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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Otho, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Otho 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 Otho:
    • 39.681184, -81.697630
    • 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 Otho
  • 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Since Otho is near Noble County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Noble County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Otho

Communities Also Named Otho ...

We found five communities that are also named Otho.

Within Ohio, the name Otho is unique.

Beyond Ohio, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Henry County
      • This Otho is located in Henry County and lies 584 miles [939.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Otho that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Otho.
    • Iowa
      • Webster County
      • This Otho is located in Webster County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Otho that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webster County community of Otho.
    • Kentucky
      • Fleming County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Otho [Fleming County].
    • Mississippi
      • Scott County
      • This Otho is located in Scott County and lies 670 miles [1,078.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Otho that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Otho.
    • Texas
      • Gonzales County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Otho [Gonzales County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Otho ...

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.

  • Cabinville ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cabinville is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabinville
  • Centerville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Centerville is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Cloud ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cloud is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloud
  • Coal Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Coal Hill is located in Muskingum County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Hill
  • Keith
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Keith is located in Noble County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keith
  • Moscow Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Moscow Mills is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow Mills
  • Olive Green
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Olive Green is located in Noble County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Green
  • Relief
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Relief is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
  • Rich Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Rich Valley is located in Noble County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Valley
  • Unionville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Unionville is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
  • Young Hickory
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Young Hickory is located in Muskingum County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young Hickory

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Otho once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Otho and extending to:

  • McConnelsville, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Otho to Columbus, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 254 miles [408.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,056 miles [9,746.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,775 miles [10,903.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,651 miles [7,485.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Otho) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Otho 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.
<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 Otho, 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 Otho 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 Otho. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6812, Longitude: -81.6976       In this case, the coordinates for Otho have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.668 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.719 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.455 degrees.