RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> Covington County >> Ora >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ora, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ora 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 Ora:
    • 31.657665, -89.574514
    • 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 Ora
  • 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 Covington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Covington County
    • Since Ora is near Jefferson Davis County and also Smith County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson Davis County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smith 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 Ora

Communities Also Named Ora ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Ora.

Within Mississippi, the name Ora is unique.

Beyond Mississippi, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Lawrence 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 Ora [Lawrence County].
    • California
      • Fresno County
      • This Ora is located in Fresno County and lies 1,781 miles [2,866.2 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Ora that is located in Covington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fresno County community of Ora.
    • Idaho
      • Fremont County
      • This Ora is located in Fremont County and lies 1,465 miles [2,357.7 km]<2> to the northwest of the Ora that is located in Covington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fremont County community of Ora.
    • Illinois
      • Jackson 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 Illinois community of Ora [Jackson County].
    • Indiana
      • Starke County
      • This Ora is located in Starke County and lies 678 miles [1,091.1 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Ora that is located in Covington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Starke County community of Ora.
    • Nevada
      • Washoe County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Washoe County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washoe County community of Ora.
    • North Carolina
      • Cleveland County
      • This Ora is located in Cleveland County and lies 524 miles [843.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ora that is located in Covington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cleveland County community of Ora.
      • Sampson 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 North Carolina community of Ora [Sampson County].
    • South Carolina
      • Laurens County
      • This Ora is located in Laurens County and lies 482 miles [775.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ora that is located in Covington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Laurens County community of Ora.
    • Tennessee
      • Bradley 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 Tennessee community of Ora [Bradley County].
    • Texas
      • Angelina County
      • This Ora is located in Angelina County and lies 287 miles [461.9 km]<2> to the west of the Ora that is located in Covington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Angelina County community of Ora.
    • Virginia
      • Washington 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 Virginia community of Ora [Washington County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ora ...

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.

  • Cold Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cold Springs is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Friendship
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Friendship is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Hopewell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hopewell is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Liberty
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Liberty is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Mount Horeb
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Mount Horeb is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
  • Mount Pleasant
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Providence
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Providence is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Rock Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock Hill is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
  • Speedtown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Speedtown is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedtown
  • Station Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Station Creek is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station Creek
  • Sunset
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Sunset is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
  • Union
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Union is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
  • Willowtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Willowtown is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowtown

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

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

  • Collins, which is the Seat of Covington County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 56 miles [90.1 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Ora to Jackson, with an average speed<4> 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 over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 864 miles [1,390.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,756 miles [10,872.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,466 miles [12,015.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,343 miles [8,598.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Ora 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ora) 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 Ora, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Ora 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 Ora. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6577, Longitude: -89.5745       In this case, the coordinates for Ora have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.204 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.805 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.757 degrees.