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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Spanker, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spanker 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 Spanker:
    • 39.858112, -84.245221
    • 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 Spanker
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Spanker is near Miami County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Miami County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Spanker

Curious and Interesting Names Near Spanker ...

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.

  • Airhill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Airhill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airhill
  • County Line ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • County Line is located in Miami County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
  • Deerpark Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Deerpark Village is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerpark Village
  • Frederick
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Frederick is located in Miami County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederick
  • Ginghamsburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ginghamsburg is located in Miami County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginghamsburg
  • Happy Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Happy Corners is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Corners
  • Hooks Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hooks Corner is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooks Corner
  • Little York
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Little York is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
  • Pigeye
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pigeye is located in Miami County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeye
  • Pinchtown ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinchtown is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinchtown
  • Post Town
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Post Town is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Town
  • Sixmile
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sixmile is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Stillwater Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Stillwater Junction is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stillwater Junction
    • Stringtown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Stringtown is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Trotwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Union
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Union is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,909 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union <1>

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Spanker and extending to:

  • Dayton, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 66 miles [106.2 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Spanker to Columbus, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full 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 390 miles [627.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,875 miles [11,064.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,751 miles [7,646 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Spanker) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Spanker 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 Spanker. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8581, Longitude: -84.2452       In this case, the coordinates for Spanker have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.258 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.556 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.554 degrees.