RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Decatur County >> Saint Omer >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Indiana

The Commemorative Quarter for Indiana





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Saint Omer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Saint Omer 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 Saint Omer:
    • 39.435356, -85.595593
    • 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.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Saint Omer
  • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Saint Omer ...

We found two communities that share the name Saint Omer.

Within Indiana, the name Saint Omer is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other three communities are located in  Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Coles 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 Illinois community of Saint Omer [Coles County].
    • Quebec
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Saint Omer ...

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.

  • Craig
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Craig have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
    • Craig is located in Decatur County
  • Geneva
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Harris City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Homer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Knighthood Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knighthood Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knighthood Grove
    • Knighthood Grove is located in Shelby County
  • Moscow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Pleasure Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasure Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasure Valley
    • Pleasure Valley is located in Shelby County
  • Rays Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Rugby
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rugby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
    • Rugby is located in Bartholomew County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Rugby
    • From Saint Omer to Rugby
  • Sleepy Hollow
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sleepy Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Sleepy Hollow is located in Shelby County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Saint Omer and extending to:

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<4> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Saint Omer to Indianapolis, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 459 miles [738.7 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,222 miles [10,013.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,949 miles [11,183.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,826 miles [7,766.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Saint Omer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Decatur County: www.decaturcounty.in.gov/

The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov

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 Saint Omer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Saint Omer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Saint Omer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4354, Longitude: -85.5956       In this case, the coordinates for Saint Omer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Saint Omer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.117 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.476 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.30 degrees.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025