RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Jackson County >> Otter Creek >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Otter Creek:
    • 42.240569, -90.682632
    • 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 Otter Creek
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Otter Creek is near Dubuque County and also Jones County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dubuque County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jones 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 Otter Creek

Communities Also Named Otter Creek ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Otter Creek.

Within Iowa, the name Otter Creek is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Pulaski County
      • This Otter Creek is located in Pulaski County and lies 531 miles [854.6 km]<1> to the south of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Otter Creek.
    • Florida
      • Levy County
      • This Otter Creek is located in Levy County and lies 994 miles [1,599.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Levy County community of Otter Creek.
    • Georgia
      • Pierce County
      • This Otter Creek is located in Pierce County and lies 888 miles [1,429.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of Otter Creek.
    • Kansas
      • Clay 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 Otter Creek [Clay County].
    • Kentucky
      • Hardin 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 Kentucky community of Otter Creek [Hardin County].
    • Maine
      • Hancock County
      • This Otter Creek is located in Hancock County and lies 1,135 miles [1,826.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Otter Creek.
    • Michigan
      • Jackson 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 Michigan community of Otter Creek [Jackson County].
    • Minnesota
      • Carlton County
      • This Otter Creek is located in Carlton County and lies 316 miles [508.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carlton County community of Otter Creek.
    • Missouri
      • Wayne County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Wayne County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Otter Creek.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Otter Creek lies 1,335 miles [2,148.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
    • New York
      • Lewis County
      • This Otter Creek is located in Lewis County and lies 779 miles [1,253.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis County community of Otter Creek.
    • North Carolina
      • Rutherford County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Otter Creek [Rutherford County].
    • North Dakota
      • Oliver County
      • This Otter Creek is located in Oliver County and lies 628 miles [1,010.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oliver County community of Otter Creek.
    • Ontario
      • This Otter Creek lies 496 miles [798.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Otter Creek that is located in Jackson County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Mercer 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 Pennsylvania community of Otter Creek [Mercer County].
    • Tennessee
      • Cumberland 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 Tennessee community of Otter Creek [Cumberland County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Otter Creek ...

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.

  • Clay Mills
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Clay Mills is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Mills
  • Cottonville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cottonville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonville
  • Crab Town
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Crab Town is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Town
  • Galena Junction
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Galena Junction is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena Junction
  • Garry Owen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Garry Owen is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garry Owen
  • Gears Ferry
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Gears Ferry is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gears Ferry
  • Ironhills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ironhills is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironhills
  • King
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • King is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Pleasant Creek
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Creek is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Creek
  • Pleasant Grove
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Dubuque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Portage
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Portage is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
  • Rice
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rice is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rockaway ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockaway is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockaway
    • Rockdale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Rockdale is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
    • Springbrook
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Temple Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Temple Hill is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hill

How Far From Otter Creek 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 Otter Creek to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Maquoketa, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Otter Creek to Maquoketa, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 157 miles [252.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 751 miles [1,208.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,274 miles [10,097 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,019 miles [11,296 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,910 miles [7,901.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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- Otter Creek) 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 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 Otter Creek 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 Otter Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Otter Creek 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 Otter Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2406, Longitude: -90.6826       In this case, the coordinates for Otter Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.486 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.722 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.998 degrees.