RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Osage County >> Olivet >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Olivet, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Olivet 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 Olivet:
    • 38.480826, -95.751353
    • 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 Olivet
  • 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 Osage County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Osage County
    • Since Olivet is near Coffey County and also Lyon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coffey County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon 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 Olivet

Communities Also Named Olivet ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Olivet.

Within Kansas, the name Olivet is unique.

Beyond Kansas, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Carroll 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 Arkansas community of Olivet [Carroll County].
    • Illinois
      • Vermilion County
      • This Olivet is located in Vermilion County and lies 445 miles [716.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermilion County community of Olivet.
    • Iowa
      • Mahaska County
      • This Olivet is located in Mahaska County and lies 249 miles [400.7 km]<2> to the northeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mahaska County community of Olivet.
    • Maryland
      • Calvert County
      • This Olivet is located in Calvert County and lies 1,042 miles [1,676.9 km]<2> to the east of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calvert County community of Olivet.
    • Michigan
      • Eaton County
      • This Olivet is located in Eaton County and lies 630 miles [1,013.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eaton County community of Olivet.
    • New Jersey
      • Salem County
      • This Olivet is located in Salem County and lies 1,105 miles [1,778.3 km]<2> to the east of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salem County community of Olivet.
    • North Carolina
      • Jackson County
      • This Olivet is located in Jackson County and lies 717 miles [1,153.9 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Olivet.
    • Ontario
      • This Olivet lies 865 miles [1,392.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • This Olivet is located in Armstrong County and lies 880 miles [1,416.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of Olivet.
    • South Dakota
      • Hutchinson County
      • This Olivet is located in Hutchinson County and lies 343 miles [552 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hutchinson County community of Olivet.
    • Tennessee
      • Giles County
      • This Olivet is located in Giles County and lies 529 miles [851.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Giles County community of Olivet.
      • Hardin County
      • This Olivet is located in Hardin County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km] to the east southeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardin County community of Olivet.
    • Wisconsin
      • Pierce County
      • This Olivet is located in Pierce County and lies 471 miles [758 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Olivet that is located in Osage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of Olivet.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Olivet ...

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 Olivet to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Olivet to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Lyndon, which is the Seat of Osage County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Olivet to Lyndon, 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.
  • Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 39 miles [62.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,007 miles [1,620.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,645 miles [10,694.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,391 miles [11,894.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,281 miles [8,498.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Olivet 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- Olivet) 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 Olivet 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 Olivet. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4808, Longitude: -95.7514    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.794 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.036 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.353 degrees.