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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sturgis, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sturgis 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 Sturgis:
    • 33.345232, -89.045751
    • 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 Sturgis
  • 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 Oktibbeha County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oktibbeha County
    • Since Sturgis is near Choctaw County and also Winston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Winston 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 Sturgis

Communities Also Named Sturgis ...

We found seven communities that are also named Sturgis.

Within Mississippi, the name Sturgis is unique.

Beyond Mississippi, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Bradley County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Sturgis [Bradley County].
    • Kentucky
      • Union County
      • This Sturgis is located in Union County and lies 296 miles [476.4 km]<2> to the north of the Sturgis that is located in Oktibbeha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Sturgis.
    • Michigan
      • Saint Joseph County
      • This Sturgis is located in Saint Joseph County and lies 616 miles [991.4 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Sturgis that is located in Oktibbeha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Joseph County community of Sturgis.
    • Oklahoma
      • Cimarron County
      • This Sturgis is located in Cimarron County and lies 774 miles [1,245.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Sturgis that is located in Oktibbeha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cimarron County community of Sturgis.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Crawford County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Sturgis [Crawford County].
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Sturgis lies 1,449 miles [2,331.9 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Sturgis that is located in Oktibbeha County.
    • South Dakota
      • Meade County
      • This Sturgis is located in Meade County and lies 1,087 miles [1,749.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the Sturgis that is located in Oktibbeha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meade County community of Sturgis.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sturgis ...

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.

  • Craig Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Craig Springs is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig Springs
  • Deposit ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Deposit is located in Winston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deposit
  • Double Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Double Springs is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Springs
  • Green Acres
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Gum Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Gum Springs is located in Winston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Longview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Longview is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Reform
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Reform is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reform
  • Self Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Self Creek is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Self Creek

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

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

  • Starkville, which is the Seat of Oktibbeha County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sturgis to Starkville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 97 miles [156.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 770 miles [1,239.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,652 miles [10,705.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,367 miles [11,856 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,242 miles [8,436.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Sturgis, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sturgis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Sturgis 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>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 Sturgis 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 Sturgis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3452, Longitude: -89.0458       In this case, the coordinates for Sturgis have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.029 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.83 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.244 degrees.