Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Orson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Orson
- 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 Orson:
- 41.779432, -95.983344
- 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 Orson
- 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 Harrison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Harrison County
- Since Orson is near Monona County and also Burt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Monona County
- eBird sighting report for Burt 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Orson ...
We found two communities that share the name Orson.
Within Iowa, the name Orson is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orson ...
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.
- Allen
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - California Junction
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California Junction
- California Junction is located in Harrison County
- Echo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Herman
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herman
- Herman is located in Washington County (NE)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Herman <4>
- Little Sioux
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Sioux have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sioux
- Little Sioux is located in Harrison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Sioux <4>
- Magnolia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Missouri Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Missouri Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missouri Valley
- Missouri Valley is located in Harrison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,576 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Missouri Valley <4>
- Moorhead
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorhead have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorhead
- Moorhead is located in Monona County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moorhead <4>
How Far From Orson 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 Orson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orson and extending to:
- Logan, which is the Seat of Harrison County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Orson to Logan, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 122 miles [196.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,014 miles [1,631.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,479 miles [10,426.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,232 miles [11,638.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,135 miles [8,264 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Harrison County: www.harrisoncountyia.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Orson 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Orson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7794, Longitude: -95.9833 In this case, the coordinates for Orson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Orson to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.143 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.858 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.845 degrees. |