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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ottumwa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ottumwa 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 Ottumwa:
    • 38.277717, -95.799088
    • 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 Ottumwa
  • 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 Coffey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coffey County
    • Since Ottumwa is near Lyon County and also Osage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Osage 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 Ottumwa

Communities Also Named Ottumwa ...

We found two communities that are also named Ottumwa.

Within Kansas, the name Ottumwa is unique.

Beyond Kansas, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Wapello County
      • This Ottumwa is located in Wapello County and lies 261 miles [420 km]<1> to the northeast of the Ottumwa that is located in Coffey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wapello County community of Ottumwa.
    • South Dakota
      • Haakon County
      • This Ottumwa is located in Haakon County and lies 501 miles [806.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Ottumwa that is located in Coffey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Haakon County community of Ottumwa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ottumwa ...

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 Ottumwa 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 Ottumwa to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Burlington, which is the Seat of Coffey County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 53 miles [85.3 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Ottumwa to Topeka, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,011 miles [1,627 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,658 miles [10,715 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,403 miles [11,914 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,293 miles [8,518.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Ottumwa) 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 Ottumwa 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 Ottumwa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2777, Longitude: -95.7991    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.813 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.032 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.412 degrees.