RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for California







Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Olympia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Olympia and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Olympia:
    • 37.069670, -122.058574
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Olympia
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Olympia ...

We found eleven communities that share the name Olympia.

Within California, the name Olympia is unique.

Beyond California, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Olympia #
      • This community is historichttp://www.waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&lat=37.069670&lon=-122.058574&t=6 and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Olympia.
    • Georgia
      • Lowndes County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Olympia [Lowndes County].
    • Kansas
      • Pratt County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Olympia [Pratt County].
    • Kentucky
      • Bath County
      • This Olympia is located in Bath County and lies 2,085 miles [3,355.5 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Olympia that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bath County community of Olympia.
    • Missouri
      • Cedar County
      • This Olympia is located in Cedar County and lies 1,532 miles [2,465.5 km]<3> to the east of the Olympia that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cedar County community of Olympia.
    • North Carolina
      • Pamlico County
      • This Olympia is located in Pamlico County and lies 2,495 miles [4,015.3 km]<3> to the east of the Olympia that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pamlico County community of Olympia.
    • Ohio
      • Fayette County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Olympia [Fayette County].
    • South Carolina
      • Richland County
      • This Olympia is located in Richland County and lies 2,297 miles [3,696.7 km]<3> to the east of the Olympia that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Olympia.
    • Virginia
      • Smyth County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Olympia [Smyth County].
    • Washington
      • King County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Olympia [King County].
      • Thurston County
      • This Olympia is located in Thurston County and lies 689 miles [1,108.8 km]<3> to the north of the Olympia that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thurston County community of Olympia.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Olympia ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Bonny Doon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Boulder Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Forest Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Park have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
    • Forest Park is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Forest Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Springs
    • Forest Springs is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Highland ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
    • Highland is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Holy City ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holy City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy City
    • Holy City is located in Santa Clara County
  • Magnetic Spring ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magnetic Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnetic Spring
    • Magnetic Spring is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Majors
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Majors have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majors
    • Majors is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Mission Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Springs
    • Mission Springs is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Paradise Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
    • Paradise Park is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Petroleum ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petroleum have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petroleum
    • Petroleum is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Seabright
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seabright have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seabright
    • Seabright is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Twin Lakes
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Twin Lakes is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Wildwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Wildwood is located in Santa Cruz County

How Far From Olympia to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Olympia to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Olympia and extending to:

  • Santa Cruz, which is the Seat of Santa Cruz County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 108 miles [173.8 km]<3> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Olympia to Sacramento, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,428 miles [3,907.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,454 miles [11,996.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,221 miles [13,230.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,268 miles [10,087.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Olympia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Santa Cruz County: www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Olympia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Olympia could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Olympia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Olympia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0697, Longitude: -122.0586       In this case, the coordinates for Olympia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<6>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<7>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Olympia to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.822 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.661 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.94 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024