RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Ripley County >> Allen Crossing >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Allen Crossing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Allen Crossing 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 Allen Crossing:
    • 39.103943, -85.316906
    • 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 Allen Crossing
  • 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 Ripley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ripley County
    • Since Allen Crossing is near Jennings County and also Decatur County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jennings County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Decatur 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 Allen Crossing

Curious and Interesting Names Near Allen Crossing ...

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.

  • Correct
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Correct is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Correct
  • Delaware
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Delaware is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaware
  • Jolleyville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jolleyville is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolleyville
  • Lookout
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lookout is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lookout
  • Napoleon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Nebraska
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Nebraska is located in Jennings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebraska
  • Otter Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Otter Village is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter Village
  • Pierceville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Pierceville is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
  • Prattsburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Prattsburg is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattsburg
  • Stringtown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Stringtown is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown

How Far From Allen Crossing to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Allen Crossing and extending to:

  • Versailles, which is the Seat of Ripley County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 64 miles [103 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Allen Crossing to Indianapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 444 miles [714.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,227 miles [10,021.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,952 miles [11,188.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,828 miles [7,769.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Allen Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Allen Crossing 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 Allen Crossing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1039, Longitude: -85.3169       In this case, the coordinates for Allen Crossing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.939 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.226 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.268 degrees.