RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Caldwell County >> Black Oak >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Black Oak, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Black Oak 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 Black Oak:
    • 39.547235, -93.838547
    • 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 Black Oak
  • 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 Caldwell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
    • Since Black Oak is near Ray County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ray County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll 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 Black Oak

Communities Also Named Black Oak ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Black Oak.

Within Missouri, the name Black Oak is unique.

Beyond Missouri, we know of fourteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • DeKalb County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Black Oak [DeKalb County].
    • Arkansas
      • Craighead County
      • This Black Oak is located in Craighead County and lies 318 miles [511.8 km]<2> to the southeast of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Craighead County community of Black Oak.
      • Poinsett County
      • This Black Oak is located in Poinsett County and lies 339 miles [545.6 km] to the southeast of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Poinsett County community of Black Oak.
      • Washington County
      • This Black Oak is located in Washington County and lies 246 miles [395.9 km] to the south of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Black Oak.
    • California
      • Tuolumne County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Black Oak [Tuolumne County].
    • Indiana
      • Davies's County
      • This Black Oak is located in Davies's County and lies 367 miles [590.6 km]<2> to the east of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davies's County community of Black Oak.
      • Lake County
      • This Black Oak is located in Lake County and lies 365 miles [587.4 km] to the east northeast of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Black Oak.
    • Maryland
      • Allegany County
      • This Black Oak is located in Allegany County and lies 793 miles [1,276.2 km]<2> to the east of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegany County community of Black Oak.
    • Ohio
      • Belmont County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Belmont County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of Black Oak.
    • Tennessee
      • Knox County
      • This Black Oak is located in Knox County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Black Oak.
      • Scott County
      • This Black Oak is located in Scott County and lies 544 miles [875.5 km] to the east southeast of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Black Oak.
      • White County
      • This Black Oak is located in White County and lies 515 miles [828.8 km] to the east southeast of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the White County community of Black Oak.
    • Texas
      • Hopkins County
      • This Black Oak is located in Hopkins County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Black Oak that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hopkins County community of Black Oak.
    • West Virginia
      • Mineral County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Black Oak [Mineral County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Black Oak ...

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.

  • Bonanza ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bonanza is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
  • Cowgill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cowgill is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowgill
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
  • Easterville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Easterville is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easterville
  • Georgeville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Georgeville is located in Ray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
  • Judd
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Judd is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judd
  • Plymouth
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Plymouth is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
  • Polo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Polo is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 532 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Polo <4>
  • Quote
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Quote is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quote
  • Regal
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Regal is located in Ray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regal
  • Roads
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Roads is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roads
  • Shoal
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Shoal is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal

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

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

  • Kingston, which is the Seat of Caldwell County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Black Oak to Kingston, with an average speed<5> 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.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 111 miles [178.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 898 miles [1,445.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,522 miles [10,496.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,267 miles [11,695.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,156 miles [8,297.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Black Oak 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Black Oak) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Black Oak, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Black Oak 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 Black Oak. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5472, Longitude: -93.8385       In this case, the coordinates for Black Oak have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.55 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.733 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.207 degrees.