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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Petroleum, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Petroleum 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 Petroleum:
    • 40.611435, -85.150804
    • 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 Petroleum
  • 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 Wells County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wells County
    • Since Petroleum is near Jay County and also Adams County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jay County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams 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 Petroleum

Communities Also Named Petroleum ...

We found four communities that are also named Petroleum.

Within Indiana, the name Petroleum is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Cruz County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Petroleum [Santa Cruz County].
    • Kentucky
      • Allen County
      • This Petroleum is located in Allen County and lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Petroleum that is located in Wells County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen County community of Petroleum.
    • Ohio
      • Trumbull County
      • This Petroleum is located in Trumbull County and lies 244 miles [392.7 km]<2> to the east of the Petroleum that is located in Wells County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trumbull County community of Petroleum.
    • West Virginia
      • Ritchie County
      • This Petroleum is located in Ritchie County and lies 227 miles [365.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Petroleum that is located in Wells County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ritchie County community of Petroleum.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Petroleum ...

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.

  • Buckeye
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckeye is located in Huntington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Ceylon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Ceylon is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
  • Craigville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Craigville is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigville
  • Domestic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Domestic is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Domestic
  • Fiat
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fiat is located in Jay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiat
  • Five Points
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Five Points is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Geneva
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Greenville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenville is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
  • Honduras
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Honduras is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honduras
  • Jeff
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jeff is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeff
  • Keystone
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Keystone is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Liberty Center
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty Center is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Center
  • Pony
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Pony is located in Jay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pony
  • Toll Gate Heights
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Toll Gate Heights is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toll Gate Heights

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

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

  • Bluffton, which is the Seat of Wells County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Petroleum to Bluffton, with an average speed<4> 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.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 78 miles [125.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 446 miles [717.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,149 miles [9,895.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,879 miles [11,070.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,757 miles [7,655.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Petroleum, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Petroleum) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Petroleum 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 Petroleum. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6114, Longitude: -85.1508       In this case, the coordinates for Petroleum have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.826 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.314 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.745 degrees.