Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Odessa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Odessa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Odessa
- 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 Odessa:
- 45.262088, -96.330831
- 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 Odessa
- 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 Big Stone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Big Stone County
- Since Odessa is near Grant County and also Lac qui Parle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grant County
- eBird sighting report for Lac qui Parle 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 Odessa ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Odessa.
Within Minnesota, the name Odessa is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twenty communities, eighteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Ontario
- This Odessa lies 960 miles [1,545 km]<2> to the east of the Odessa that is located in Big Stone County.
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Odessa lies 489 miles [787 km]<2> to the northwest of the Odessa that is located in Big Stone County.
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Odessa ...
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.
- Artichoke
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Barry
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barry
- Barry is located in Big Stone County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Big Stone City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Stone City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Stone City
- Big Stone City is located in Grant County (SD)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 451 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Stone City <5>
- Big Stone Colony
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Stone Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Stone Colony
- Big Stone Colony is located in Big Stone County
- Bonanza Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonanza Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza Grove
- Bonanza Grove is located in Big Stone County
- Cashtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Graceville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graceville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceville
- Graceville is located in Big Stone County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Graceville <5>
- Louisburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Shady Beach
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Beach
- Shady Beach is located in Roberts County (SD)
- Twin Brooks
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Brooks
- Twin Brooks is located in Grant County (SD)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Twin Brooks <5>
How Far From Odessa 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 city such as Odessa to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Odessa and extending to:
- Ortonville, which is the Seat of Big Stone County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Odessa to Saint Paul, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,078 miles [1,734.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 43 days and walking would take 62 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,305 miles [10,146.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,064 miles [11,368.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,985 miles [8,022.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Odessa. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Big Stone County: www.bigstonecounty.org/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.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 Odessa, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Odessa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Odessa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.2621, Longitude: -96.3308 In this case, the coordinates for Odessa 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 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 Odessa 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 Odessa 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 320.491 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.701 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.262 degrees. |