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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Otsego, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Otsego 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 Otsego:
    • 41.447552, -83.779105
    • 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 Otsego
  • 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 Wood County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wood County
    • Since Otsego is near Lucas County and also Holmes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lucas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Holmes 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 Otsego

Communities Also Named Otsego ...

We found eight communities that are also named Otsego.

There is one other community in Ohio that is also named Otsego.

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

  • Communities Located In Ohio ...
    • Muskingum County
      • This Otsego is located in Muskingum County and lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Otsego that is located in Wood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muskingum County community of Otsego.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Otsego #1
      • This community is historichttp://www.waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&lat=41.447552&lon=-83.779105&t=6 and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Otsego.
    • Kansas
      • Clay 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 Kansas community of Otsego [Clay County].
    • Michigan
      • Allegan County
      • This Otsego is located in Allegan County and lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Otsego that is located in Wood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegan County community of Otsego.
      • Otsego 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 Michigan community of Otsego [Otsego County].
    • Minnesota
      • Wright County
      • This Otsego is located in Wright County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Otsego that is located in Wood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wright County community of Otsego.
    • West Virginia
      • Wyoming County
      • This Otsego is located in Wyoming County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Otsego that is located in Wood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wyoming County community of Otsego.
    • Wisconsin
      • Columbia County
      • This Otsego is located in Columbia County and lies 305 miles [490.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Otsego that is located in Wood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Otsego.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Otsego ...

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.

  • Bowling Green
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Business Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Business Corner is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Business Corner
  • Christy
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Christy is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christy
  • Grand Rapids
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Homewood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Homewood is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Hull Prairie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hull Prairie is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull Prairie
  • Hulls Crossing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hulls Crossing is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulls Crossing
  • Indian Meadows
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Meadows is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Meadows
  • Kettle Run
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Kettle Run is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kettle Run
  • Meadowvale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Meadowvale is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowvale
  • Providence
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Providence is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Quail Hollow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Quail Hollow is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sugar Ridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Sugar Ridge is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Ridge
    • Texas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Texas is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas
    • Willowbend
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Willowbend is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbend
    • Wintergarden Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Bowling Green, which is the Seat of Wood County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 109 miles [175.4 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Otsego to Columbus, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 396 miles [637.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,058 miles [9,749.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,787 miles [10,922.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,665 miles [7,507.6 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- Otsego) 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 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 Otsego 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Otsego 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 Otsego. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4476, Longitude: -83.7791       In this case, the coordinates for Otsego have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.928 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.414 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.829 degrees.