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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Richards, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Richards 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 Richards:
    • 41.663384, -83.652992
    • 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 Richards
  • 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 Lucas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lucas County
    • Since Richards is near Wood County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wood County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Richards

Communities Also Named Richards ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Richards.

Within Ohio, the name Richards is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Lamar County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Richards [Lamar County].
    • Illinois
      • La Salle County
      • This Richards is located in La Salle County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<2> to the west of the Richards that is located in Lucas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle County community of Richards.
    • Indiana
      • Brown County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Richards [Brown County].
    • Kansas
      • Barber County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Barber County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barber County community of Richards.
      • Chase County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Richards [Chase County].
    • Kentucky
      • Clay County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Richards [Clay County].
    • Minnesota
      • Becker County
      • This Richards is located in Becker County and lies 702 miles [1,129.8 km]<2> to the northwest of the Richards that is located in Lucas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Becker County community of Richards.
    • Missouri
      • Vernon County
      • This Richards is located in Vernon County and lies 633 miles [1,018.7 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Richards that is located in Lucas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vernon County community of Richards.
    • South Dakota
      • Buffalo County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Richards [Buffalo County].
    • Texas
      • Grimes County
      • This Richards is located in Grimes County and lies 1,023 miles [1,646.4 km]<2> to the southwest of the Richards that is located in Lucas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grimes County community of Richards.
    • Virginia
      • Goochland County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Richards [Goochland County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Richards ...

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.

  • Air Line Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Air Line Junction is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Air Line Junction
  • Centennial ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Centennial is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centennial
  • Ferndale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Ferndale is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
  • Frances Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Frances Gardens is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frances Gardens
  • Freemans Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Freemans Gardens is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freemans Gardens
  • Grassy Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Grassy Creek is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Creek
  • Haven Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Haven Park is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven Park
  • Holland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Island View
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Island View is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island View
  • Liberty Corners
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Liberty Corners is located in Monroe County (MI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Corners
  • Ranch Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ranch Gardens is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranch Gardens
  • Sandburr Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandburr Corners is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandburr Corners
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Silica
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Silica is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silica
    • Spring Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Valley Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Valley Hills is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Hills
    • Vulcan
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Vulcan is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan

How Far From Richards 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 Richards 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 community of Richards once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Richards and extending to:

  • Toledo, which is the Seat of Lucas County, lies just to the East.
  • Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 121 miles [194.7 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Richards to Columbus, with an average speed<5>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 397 miles [638.9 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,043 miles [9,725.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,773 miles [10,900.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,651 miles [7,485.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Richards 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.
<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- Richards) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Richards, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Richards 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 Richards. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6634, Longitude: -83.6530       In this case, the coordinates for Richards have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.84 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.346 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.697 degrees.