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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for Minnesota





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Owatonna, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Owatonna and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Owatonna:
    • 44.087899, -93.226030
    • 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 Owatonna
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Owatonna ...

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.

  • Bixby
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bixby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
    • Bixby is located in Steele County
  • Colony Court
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colony Court have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Court
    • Colony Court is located in Waseca County
  • Ellendale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellendale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
    • Ellendale is located in Steele County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 669 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ellendale <2>
  • Havana
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Hope
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Prairieville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairieville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
    • Prairieville is located in Rice County
  • Rice Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
    • Rice Lake is located in Steele County
  • River Point
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Union
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Vista
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)

How Far From Owatonna 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 Owatonna to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Owatonna and extending to:

  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<4> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Owatonna to Saint Paul, with an average speed<5> 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 about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 908 miles [1,461.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,267 miles [10,085.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,020 miles [11,297.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,925 miles [7,926 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

The official website for Owatonna: www.ci.owatonna.mn.us/

The official website for Steele County: www.co.steele.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Owatonna) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Owatonna. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0879, Longitude: -93.2260    
<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 Owatonna to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.263 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.003 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.851 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025