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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sprague, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sprague 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 Sprague:
    • 39.678962, -81.217612
    • 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 Sprague
  • 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 Monroe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Since Sprague 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 Sprague

Communities Also Named Sprague ...

We found eight communities that are also named Sprague.

Within Ohio, the name Sprague is unique.

Beyond Ohio, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Montgomery County
      • This Sprague is located in Montgomery County and lies 592 miles [952.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Sprague that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Sprague.
    • Manitoba
      • This Sprague lies 958 miles [1,541.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Sprague that is located in Monroe County.
    • Missouri
      • Bates County
      • This Sprague is located in Bates County and lies 719 miles [1,157.1 km]<1> to the west of the Sprague that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bates County community of Sprague.
    • Nebraska
      • Lancaster County
      • This Sprague is located in Lancaster County and lies 821 miles [1,321.3 km]<1> to the west of the Sprague that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Sprague.
    • Washington
      • Lincoln County
      • This Sprague is located in Lincoln County and lies 1,895 miles [3,049.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Sprague that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Sprague.
    • West Virginia
      • Raleigh County
      • This Sprague is located in Raleigh County and lies 130 miles [209.2 km]<1> to the south of the Sprague that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Raleigh County community of Sprague.
    • Wisconsin
      • Barron 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 Wisconsin community of Sprague [Barron County].
      • Juneau County
      • This Sprague is located in Juneau County and lies 551 miles [886.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Sprague that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Juneau County community of Sprague.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sprague ...

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.

  • Cliffyville ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Cliffyville is located in Noble County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffyville
  • Cross Keys ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cross Keys is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
  • Decker
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Decker is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decker
  • Elk
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Elk is located in Noble County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk
  • Flag
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Flag is located in Noble County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flag
  • Graham
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Graham is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
  • Graysville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Graysville is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graysville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
  • Hartshorn
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hartshorn is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartshorn
  • Hilltop
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hilltop is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Jacobsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jacobsburg is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobsburg
    • Lewisville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Lewisville is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
    • Plainview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Plainview is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
    • Quarry ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Quarry is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarry
    • Road Fork
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Road Fork is located in Noble County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Road Fork
    • Sycamore Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Sycamore Valley is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Valley

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

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

  • Woodsfield, which is the Seat of Monroe County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Sprague to Columbus, with an average speed<3>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 229 miles [368.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,037 miles [9,715.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,755 miles [10,871.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,630 miles [7,451.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sprague) 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 Sprague 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 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 Sprague 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 Sprague. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6790, Longitude: -81.2176       In this case, the coordinates for Sprague have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.372 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.381 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.241 degrees.