RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oklahoma >> Bryan County >> Oberlin >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oberlin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oberlin 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 Oberlin:
    • 33.873711, -95.851638
    • 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 Oberlin
  • 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 Bryan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bryan County
    • Since Oberlin is near Choctaw County and also Lamar County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lamar 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 Oberlin

Communities Also Named Oberlin ...

We found nine communities that are also named Oberlin.

Within Oklahoma, the name Oberlin is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Oberlin lies 1,526 miles [2,455.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Oberlin that is located in Bryan County.
    • Kansas
      • Decatur County
      • This Oberlin is located in Decatur County and lies 485 miles [780.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Oberlin that is located in Bryan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Decatur County community of Oberlin.
    • Louisiana
      • Allen Parish
      • This Oberlin is located in Allen Parish and lies 288 miles [463.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Oberlin that is located in Bryan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen Parish community of Oberlin.
      • Calcasieu Parish
      • 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 Louisiana community of Oberlin [Calcasieu Parish].
    • Michigan
      • Benzie County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Oberlin [Benzie County].
      • Gladwin County
      • This Oberlin is located in Gladwin County and lies 929 miles [1,495.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oberlin that is located in Bryan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gladwin County community of Oberlin.
    • North Carolina
      • Wake County
      • This Oberlin is located in Wake County and lies 982 miles [1,580.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Oberlin that is located in Bryan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wake County community of Oberlin.
    • Ohio
      • Lorain County
      • This Oberlin is located in Lorain County and lies 902 miles [1,451.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oberlin that is located in Bryan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lorain County community of Oberlin.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Dauphin County
      • This Oberlin is located in Dauphin County and lies 1,134 miles [1,825 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Oberlin that is located in Bryan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dauphin County community of Oberlin.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oberlin ...

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.

  • Bluff
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bluff is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff
  • Direct
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Direct is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Direct
  • Georgia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Georgia is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgia
  • Globe
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Globe is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
  • Jasper
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jasper is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jasper
  • Monkstown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Monkstown is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkstown
  • Ragtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Ragtown is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragtown
  • Razor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Razor is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Razor
  • Telephone
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Tigertown
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Tigertown is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigertown
  • Unity
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Unity is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity

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

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

  • Durant, which is the Seat of Bryan County, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Oberlin to Durant, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Oklahoma City, which is the State Capital of Oklahoma, lies 144 miles [231.7 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,099 miles [1,768.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 43 days and walking would take 63 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,891 miles [11,090 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,626 miles [12,272.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,505 miles [8,859.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oberlin) 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 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 Oberlin 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 Oberlin, 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 Oberlin 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 Oberlin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8737, Longitude: -95.8516       In this case, the coordinates for Oberlin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.441 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.039 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.101 degrees.