Documentation for Wayne County Historic Sites

Wayne Historians Organization (WHO)

Wayne County Historic Sites is part of the Wayne Historians Organization (WHO) website: http://waynehistorians.org/

Wayne County Historic Sites

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Finding GPS Coordinates in Decimal Degrees (DD)

Overview: There are at least three types of ways to describe GPS Coordinates. Decimal Degrees (DD) are what should be used in Wayne Historic Sites. Two other types, Decimal Minutes (DMM or DM.MM) and Degrees, Minutes or Seconds (DMS) can easily be converted. Your mobile device/app, car/boat navigation systems (Garmin, TomTom ...) may have one of these as the default setting.

Precision: 0.0001 DD = about 36.4 ft

Using the Google Search Engine at google.com.

  1. Using DMM:
    1. Enter the Decimal Minutes (DMM) (eg N 43°2.770 W 077°05.650) into the search box and hit Enter*. The first result should be a map of the location.
    2. Click on the map.
    3. In the left sidebar the converted GPS units are displayed, Degrees, Minutes or Seconds (DMS) (43°02'46.2"N 77°05'39.0"W) followed by the Decimal Degrees (DD) (43.046167, -77.094167).
    4. Select and copy the GPS location in Decimal Degrees and paste it into the GPS Coordinates for the Historic Site. Make sure you separate the latitude and longitude.

  2. Using DMS:
    1. Enter the Degrees, Minutes or Seconds (DMS) (eg 43°02'46.2"N 77°05'39.0"W) into the search box and hit Enter*. The first result should be a map of the location.
    2. Click on the map.
    3. In the left sidebar the GPS units are displayed, Degrees, Minutes or Seconds (DMS) (43°02'46.2"N 77°05'39.0"W) followed by the Decimal Degrees (DD) (43.046167, -77.094167). DMM are not displayed.
    4. Select and copy the GPS location in Decimal Degrees and paste it into the GPS Coordinates for the Historic Site. Make sure you separate the latitude and longitude.

  3. Using Address (see also Step by Step Example):
    1. Enter the street address into the search box and hit Enter*. It is best to enter the full address, including town/city, state and zip code. Sometimes Google will make suggestions, as you are typing the address in the search box. The first result should be a map of the location, with a Street View displayed in the lower left and at the bottom will be the complete address.
    2. Click on the map.
    3. Shortcut!: the DD GPS is displayed in the URL/Address bar. Go to step f.
    4. Right click (PC), control click (Mac) or press and hold (mobile device) - select What's Here
    5. The address and the GPS location will appear at the bottom of the map.
    6. Copy the GPS location and paste it into the GPS Coordinates for the Historic Site. Make sure you separate the latitude and longitude.

Using Other Search Engines.

  1. Bing works with OpenStreet Map, but all its features have not been explored.
  2. Apparently Yahoo Search, duckduckgo do not have a Map service and will not give you good results.

*. Enter (the Enter or Return key on the keyboard)