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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Topaz, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Topaz 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 Topaz:
- 46.571058, -89.469039
- 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 Topaz
- 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 Ontonagon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Ontonagon County
- Since Topaz is near Gogebic County and also Houghton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Gogebic County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Houghton 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 Topaz
Communities Also Named Topaz ...
We found seven communities that are also named Topaz.
Within Michigan, the name Topaz is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Crittenden County
- This Topaz is located in Crittenden County and lies 797 miles [1,282.6 km]<1> to the south of the Topaz that is located in Ontonagon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crittenden County community of Topaz.
- California
- Mono County
- This Topaz is located in Mono County and lies 1,611 miles [2,592.7 km]<1> to the west of the Topaz that is located in Ontonagon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mono County community of Topaz.
- Idaho
- Bannock County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Topaz [Bannock County].
- Bingham County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Topaz [Bingham County].
- Missouri
- Douglas County
- This Topaz is located in Douglas County and lies 679 miles [1,092.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Topaz that is located in Ontonagon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Topaz.
- Texas
- Erath County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Topaz [Erath County].
- Utah
- Millard County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Millard County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Millard County community of Topaz.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Topaz ...
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.
- Bruce Crossing
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Ethelwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ethelwood is located in Gogebic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethelwood
- Gem
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Gem is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
- Grand Rapids
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Grand Rapids is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Rapids
- Green
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Green is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green
- Matchwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Matchwood is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matchwood
- Nonesuch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Nonesuch is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nonesuch
- Robbins
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Robbins is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins
- Rockland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Silver City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Silver City is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Sleepy Hollow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Sleepy Hollow is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
How Far From Topaz 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 Topaz to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Topaz and extending to:
- Ontonagon, which is the Seat of Ontonagon County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Topaz to Ontonagon, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 358 miles [576.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 821 miles [1,321.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,017 miles [9,683.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,770 miles [10,895.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,675 miles [7,523.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Topaz) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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 Topaz, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Topaz 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Topaz 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 Topaz. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.5711, Longitude: -89.4690 In this case, the coordinates for Topaz have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.595 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.315 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.09 degrees. |
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