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:
- 39.001075, -93.953431
- 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 Lafayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lafayette County
- Since Odessa is near Jackson County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Missouri, the name Odessa is unique.
Beyond Missouri, 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
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Ontario
- This Odessa lies 958 miles [1,541.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Odessa that is located in Lafayette County.
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Odessa lies 914 miles [1,470.9 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Odessa that is located in Lafayette 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.
- Chapel Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chapel Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Chapel Hill is located in Lafayette County
- Columbus
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Columbus is located in Johnson County
- Elm
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Fortyville ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fortyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fortyville
- Fortyville is located in Lafayette County
- Hicks City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hicks City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks City
- Hicks City is located in Jackson County
- Mayview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
- Mayview is located in Lafayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayview <5>
- Napoleon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Oak Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Oak Grove is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,437 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Grove <5>
- Robbins
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Odessa 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 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:
- Lexington, which is the Seat of Lafayette County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Odessa to Lexington, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 907 miles [1,459.7 km] to the east (E). 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,555 miles [10,549.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,298 miles [11,745 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,186 miles [8,346.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Odessa: www.cityofodessamo.com/
The official website for State of Missouri: https://www.mo.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 '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- 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: 39.0011, Longitude: -93.9534 |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 318.598 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.718 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.372 degrees. |