Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Thurston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thurston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Thurston
- 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 Thurston:
- 39.842654, -82.544583
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Thurston
- 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 Fairfield County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fairfield County
- Since Thurston is near Perry County and also Licking County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Perry County
- eBird sighting report for Licking 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Thurston ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Thurston.
Within Ohio, the name Thurston is unique.
Beyond Ohio, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- Douglas County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Douglas County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Thurston.
- Thurston County
- This Thurston is located in Thurston County and lies 754 miles [1,213.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Thurston that is located in Fairfield County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thurston County community of Thurston.
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Thurston ...
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.
- Edgewater Beach
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgewater Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater Beach
- Edgewater Beach is located in Licking County
- Firemans Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Firemans Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firemans Park
- Firemans Park is located in Perry County
- Harbor Hills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Hills
- Harbor Hills is located in Licking County
- Harley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Hebron
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Hebron is located in Licking County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,497 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebron <5>
- Hooker
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Moscow ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Pleasantville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasantville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Pleasantville is located in Fairfield County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 963 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasantville <5>
- Reservoir ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Rushville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rushville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushville
- Rushville is located in Fairfield County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rushville <5>
- Sandstone ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Shell Beach
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shell Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Beach
- Shell Beach is located in Fairfield County
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Summerland Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerland Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerland Beach
- Summerland Beach is located in Fairfield County
- Thornville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thornville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornville
- Thornville is located in Perry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,007 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thornville <5>
- Wacker Heights
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wacker Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wacker Heights
- Wacker Heights is located in Fairfield County
- Wooded Hills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wooded Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooded Hills
- Wooded Hills is located in Licking County
- Ziontown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Summerland Beach
How Far From Thurston 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 village such as Thurston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Thurston and extending to:
- Lancaster, which is the Seat of Fairfield County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Thurston to Lancaster, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 25 miles [40.2 km] to the west northwest (WNW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 301 miles [484.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,083 miles [9,789.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,804 miles [10,950 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,680 miles [7,531.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Thurston: www.thurstonohio.com/
The official website for Fairfield County: www.co.fairfield.oh.us/
The official website for State of Ohio: https://ohio.gov/
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- Thurston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thurston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8427, Longitude: -82.5446 In this case, the coordinates for Thurston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Thurston 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> | 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 Thurston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Thurston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.19 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.337 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.783 degrees. |