Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Laura, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laura and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Laura
- 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 Laura:
- 39.993170, -84.408712
- 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 Laura
- 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 Miami County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Miami County
- Since Laura is near Darke County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Darke County
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Laura ...
We found seven communities that share the name Laura.
Within Ohio, the name Laura is unique.
Beyond Ohio, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout 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 ...
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Saskatchewan
- This Laura lies 1,359 miles [2,187.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Laura that is located in Miami County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Laura ...
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.
- County Line ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for County Line have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- County Line is located in Miami County
- Five Points
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Miami County
- Fourmans Corners
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fourmans Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmans Corners
- Fourmans Corners is located in Darke County
- Gordon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Painter Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Painter Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painter Creek
- Painter Creek is located in Darke County
- Pattytown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Pigeye
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Pleasant Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Miami County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,258 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Hill <5>
- Red River
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Rowdyville ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rowdyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowdyville
- Rowdyville is located in Miami County
- Steel Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steel Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steel Point
- Steel Point is located in Darke County
- Sugar Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Miami County
- Union Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Corners
- Union Corners is located in Darke County
How Far From Laura 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 village such as Laura to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Laura and extending to:
- Troy, which is the Seat of Miami County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Laura to Troy, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 74 miles [119.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 400 miles [643.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,149 miles [9,895.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,876 miles [11,065.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,752 miles [7,647.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Laura. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Miami County: www.co.miami.oh.us/
The official website for State of Ohio: https://ohio.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 Laura, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Laura) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Laura. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9932, Longitude: -84.4087 |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Laura 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 Laura 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 312.36 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.692 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.588 degrees. |