Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in O'Brien, we use the following websites to find information relevant to O'Brien and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for O'Brien
- 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 O'Brien:
- 38.513348, -95.028023
- 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 O'Brien
- 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 Miami County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Miami County
- Since O'Brien is near Franklin County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- eBird sighting report for Anderson 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named O'Brien ...
We found twelve communities that share the name O'Brien.
Within Kansas, the name O'Brien is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, ten are located in the United States and four are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Kent County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of O'Brien [Kent County].
- Ontonagon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of O'Brien [Ontonagon County].
- Minnesota
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- This O'Brien lies 2,095 miles [3,371.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the O'Brien that is located in Miami County.
- Ontario
- This O'Brien lies 848 miles [1,364.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the O'Brien that is located in Miami County.
- Oregon
- Texas
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near O'Brien ...
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.
- Beagle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Black Jack ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Jack have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
- Black Jack is located in Douglas County
- Block
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block
- Block is located in Miami County
- Centerville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Linn County
- Chiles
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chiles
- Chiles is located in Miami County
- Henson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Homewood
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
- Homewood is located in Franklin County
- Jingo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jingo
- Jingo is located in Miami County
- Lane
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <5>
- Louisburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louisburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
- Louisburg is located in Miami County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,590 people
- Former name for Louisburg:
- New Saint Lewis
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisburg <5>
How Far From O'Brien 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 O'Brien to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in O'Brien and extending to:
- Paola, which is the Seat of Miami County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from O'Brien to Paola, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 50 miles [80.5 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 968 miles [1,557.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,618 miles [10,650.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,363 miles [11,849.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,251 miles [8,450.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for O'Brien. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Miami County: www.co.miami.ks.us/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- O'Brien) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in O'Brien. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5133, Longitude: -95.0280 In this case, the coordinates for O'Brien have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 O'Brien 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. |
| <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 O'Brien, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 O'Brien to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.301 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.468 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.991 degrees. |