RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Ohio >> Williams County >> Billingstown >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Billingstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Billingstown 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 Billingstown:
    • 41.693106, -84.795513
    • 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 Billingstown
  • 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 Williams County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Williams County
    • Since Billingstown is near Steuben County and also Hillsdale County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Steuben County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hillsdale 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 Billingstown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Billingstown ...

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.

  • Berlin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Berlin is located in Williams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
  • California
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • California is located in Branch County (MI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California
  • Canada Shores
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Canada Shores is located in Branch County (MI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canada Shores
  • Clear Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Clear Lake is located in Steuben County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
  • Cold Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cold Springs is located in Steuben County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Forest Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Forest Park is located in Steuben County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Fountain Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountain Park is located in Steuben County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Park
  • Frontier
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Frontier is located in Hillsdale County (MI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier
  • Glen Eden
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Glen Eden is located in Steuben County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Eden
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Greyhound
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Greyhound is located in Williams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greyhound
    • Jim Town
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jim Town is located in Williams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jim Town
    • Nettle Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Nettle Lake is located in Williams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettle Lake
    • Page
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Page is located in Steuben County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page
    • Reading
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Reading is located in Hillsdale County (MI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,042 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reading <1>
    • Russels Point
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Russels Point is located in Steuben County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russels Point

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Billingstown and extending to:

  • Bryan, which is the Seat of Williams County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Billingstown to Bryan, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
  • Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 151 miles [243 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 451 miles [725.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,085 miles [9,792.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,818 miles [10,972.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,697 miles [7,559.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Billingstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Billingstown 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 Billingstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6931, Longitude: -84.7955       In this case, the coordinates for Billingstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.577 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.188 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.237 degrees.