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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Oakford:
    • 40.41914, -86.103761
    • 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 Oakford
  • 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Oakford is near Tipton County and also Miami County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tipton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Miami 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 Oakford

Communities Also Named Oakford ...

We found three communities that are also named Oakford.

Within Indiana, the name Oakford is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Oakford is located in Hillsborough County and lies 885 miles [1,424.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Oakford that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Oakford.
    • Illinois
      • Menard County
      • This Oakford is located in Menard County and lies 204 miles [328.3 km]<1> to the west of the Oakford that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menard County community of Oakford.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Bucks County
      • This Oakford is located in Bucks County and lies 586 miles [943.1 km]<1> to the east of the Oakford that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bucks County community of Oakford.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakford ...

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.

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

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

  • Kokomo, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 45 miles [72.4 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Oakford to Indianapolis, with an average speed<3> 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 493 miles [793.4 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 20 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,195 miles [9,969.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,926 miles [11,146.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,805 miles [7,732.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Oakford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Oakford 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 Oakford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4191, Longitude: -86.1038    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.441 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.988 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.252 degrees.