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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ratchford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ratchford 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 Ratchford:
- 39.120906, -82.505714
- 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 Ratchford
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Ratchford is near Vinton County and also Gallia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Vinton County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Gallia 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 Ratchford
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ratchford ...
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.
- Buckeye
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Buckeye is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
- Comet
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Comet is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comet
- Englishville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Englishville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englishville
- Glen Roy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Glen Roy is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Roy
- Hawks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hawks is located in Vinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawks
- Maple Grove ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Maple Grove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Puritan
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Puritan is located in Vinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puritan
- Roads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Roads is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roads
- Tom Corwin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Tom Corwin is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tom Corwin
How Far From Ratchford to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ratchford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Ratchford and extending to:
- Jackson, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 64 miles [103 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Ratchford to Columbus, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. 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 293 miles [471.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,114 miles [9,839.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,833 miles [10,996.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,708 miles [7,576.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ratchford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Ratchford 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 Ratchford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1209, Longitude: -82.5057 In this case, the coordinates for Ratchford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.182 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.221 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.999 degrees. |
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