RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Clay County >> Calcutta >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Calcutta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Calcutta 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 Calcutta:
    • 39.604209, -87.069458
    • 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 Calcutta
  • 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Since Calcutta is near Parke County and also Putnam County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Parke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Putnam 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 Calcutta

Communities Also Named Calcutta ...

We found six communities that are also named Calcutta.

Within Indiana, the name Calcutta is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Douglas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Calcutta [Douglas County].
    • New York
      • Otsego County
      • This Calcutta is located in Otsego County and lies 676 miles [1,087.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Calcutta that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otsego County community of Calcutta.
    • Ohio
      • Columbiana County
      • This Calcutta is located in Columbiana County and lies 350 miles [563.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Calcutta that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbiana County community of Calcutta.
      • Stark County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Stark County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stark County community of Calcutta.
    • Texas
      • El Paso County
      • This Calcutta is located in El Paso County and lies 1,205 miles [1,939.3 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Calcutta that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the El Paso County community of Calcutta.
    • West Virginia
      • Pleasants County
      • This Calcutta is located in Pleasants County and lies 313 miles [503.7 km]<2> to the east of the Calcutta that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pleasants County community of Calcutta.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Calcutta ...

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.

  • Brazil
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Carbon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Carbon is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 379 people
  • Diamond
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Diamond is located in Parke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
  • Harmony
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Harmony is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 639 people
  • Knightsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Knightsville is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 769 people
  • Lena
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Lena is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
  • Mechanicsburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Mechanicsburg is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
  • Pleasant Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Gardens is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gardens
  • Reelsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Reelsville is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reelsville
  • Shady Lane
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Shady Lane is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Lane
  • Smockville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Smockville is located in Parke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smockville
  • Snow Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Snow Hill is located in Parke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
  • Superior
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Superior is located in Parke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior
  • Wickville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Wickville is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickville

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

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

  • Brazil, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 49 miles [78.9 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Calcutta to Indianapolis, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 538 miles [865.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,271 miles [10,092.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,002 miles [11,268.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,880 miles [7,853.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Calcutta 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- Calcutta) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Calcutta, 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 Calcutta 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 Calcutta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6042, Longitude: -87.0695       In this case, the coordinates for Calcutta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.062 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.582 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.937 degrees.