Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Oscar, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oscar and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Oscar
- 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 Oscar:
- 37.136441, -89.027013
- 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 Oscar
- 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 Ballard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Ballard County
- Since Oscar is near Pulaski County and also McCracken County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pulaski County
- eBird sighting report for McCracken 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 Oscar ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Oscar.
Within Kentucky, the name Oscar is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Oscar lies 843 miles [1,356.7 km]<2> to the north of the Oscar that is located in Ballard County.
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oscar ...
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.
- America
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Golden Lily
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden Lily have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Lily
- Golden Lily is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Grand Chain
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Chain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Chain
- Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County (IL)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Chain <5>
- Monkeys Eyebrow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monkeys Eyebrow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkeys Eyebrow
- Monkeys Eyebrow is located in Ballard County
- Mound City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
- Mound City is located in Pulaski County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mound City <5>
- Mounds
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Needmore
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - New Grand Chain
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Grand Chain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grand Chain
- New Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Pryortown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Ragland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
How Far From Oscar 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 Oscar to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Oscar and extending to:
- Wickliffe, which is the Seat of Ballard County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Oscar to Wickliffe, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 238 miles [383 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 663 miles [1,067 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,466 miles [10,406 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,193 miles [11,576 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,070 miles [8,159.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Oscar. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.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 Oscar, 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- Oscar) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oscar. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1364, Longitude: -89.0270 In this case, the coordinates for Oscar have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Oscar 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. |
| <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 Oscar 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 315.251 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.604 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.45 degrees. |