Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ossian, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ossian and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ossian
- 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 Ossian:
- 43.146735, -91.764845
- 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 Ossian
- 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 Winneshiek County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Winneshiek County
- Since Ossian is near Fayette County and also Allamakee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- eBird sighting report for Allamakee 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 Ossian ...
We found three communities that share the name Ossian.
Within Iowa, the name Ossian is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- New York
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ossian ...
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.
- Canoe
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north) - Eldorado
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Frankville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frankville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankville
- Frankville is located in Winneshiek County
- Freeport
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Junction ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Little Turkey
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Turkey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Turkey
- Little Turkey is located in Chickasaw County
- Postville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postville
- Postville is located in Allamakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,033 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Postville <4>
- Spillville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spillville
- Spillville is located in Winneshiek County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spillville <4>
- Springwater
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springwater have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwater
- Springwater is located in Winneshiek County
- Twin Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs
- Twin Springs is located in Winneshiek County
How Far From Ossian 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 city such as Ossian to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ossian and extending to:
- Decorah, which is the Seat of Winneshiek County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Ossian to Decorah, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 142 miles [228.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 820 miles [1,319.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,266 miles [10,084.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,015 miles [11,289.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,911 miles [7,903.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ossian. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Ossian) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ossian. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1467, Longitude: -91.7648 In this case, the coordinates for Ossian have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Ossian 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> | 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 Ossian 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 317.237 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.704 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.32 degrees. |