RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Kings County >> Orion >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Orion, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orion 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 Orion:
    • 36.310228, -119.740687
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Orion
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Kings County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kings County
    • Since Orion is near Fresno County and also Tulare County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fresno County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tulare County
  • 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Orion

Communities Also Named Orion ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Orion.

Within California, the name Orion is unique.

Beyond California, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Pike County
      • This Orion is located in Pike County and lies 1,941 miles [3,123.7 km]<1> to the east of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Orion.
    • Alberta
      • This Orion lies 1,012 miles [1,628.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
    • Arkansas
      • Grant County
      • This Orion is located in Grant County and lies 1,547 miles [2,489.7 km]<1> to the east of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Orion.
    • Illinois
      • Henry County
      • This Orion is located in Henry County and lies 1,609 miles [2,589.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Orion.
    • Indiana
      • Kosciusko 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 Indiana community of Orion [Kosciusko County].
    • Kansas
      • Cloud 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 Orion [Cloud County].
      • Gove County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Orion [Gove County].
    • Minnesota
      • Olmsted 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 Minnesota community of Orion [Olmsted County].
    • Mississippi
      • Marshall County
      • This Orion is located in Marshall County and lies 1,687 miles [2,715 km]<1> to the east of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Orion.
    • Nevada
      • Nye County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Nye County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Orion.
    • North Carolina
      • Ashe County
      • This Orion is located in Ashe County and lies 2,116 miles [3,405.4 km]<1> to the east of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashe County community of Orion.
    • Oklahoma
      • Major County
      • This Orion is located in Major County and lies 1,164 miles [1,873.3 km]<1> to the east of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Major County community of Orion.
    • Wisconsin
      • Richland County
      • This Orion is located in Richland County and lies 1,617 miles [2,602.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Orion that is located in Kings County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Orion.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Orion ...

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.

  • Bean ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bean is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bean
  • Clint
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Clint is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clint
  • Guernsey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Guernsey is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey
  • Halls Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Halls Corner is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Corner
  • Home Garden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Home Garden is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Garden
  • Hub
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hub is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
  • Marsala ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Marsala is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsala
  • Shell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Shell is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell
  • Wildflower
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Wildflower is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower

How Far From Orion to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Orion once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Orion and extending to:

  • Hanford, which is the Seat of Kings County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 183 miles [294.5 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Orion to Sacramento, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,321 miles [3,735.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,456 miles [11,999.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,225 miles [13,236.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,243 miles [10,047.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Orion) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Orion 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>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 Orion, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Orion to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orion. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3102, Longitude: -119.7407       In this case, the coordinates for Orion have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.786 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.16 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.534 degrees.