RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oregon >> Douglas County >> Akin >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Akin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Akin 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 Akin:
    • 43.290394, -123.362575
    • 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 Akin
  • 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
    • Since Akin is near Coos County and also Lane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coos County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lane 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 Akin

Communities Also Named Akin ...

We found six communities that are also named Akin.

Within Oregon, the name Akin is unique.

Beyond Oregon, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Mesa County
      • This Akin is located in Mesa County and lies 830 miles [1,335.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Akin that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mesa County community of Akin.
    • Georgia
      • Stephens 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 Georgia community of Akin [Stephens County].
      • Wayne County
      • This Akin is located in Wayne County and lies 2,398 miles [3,859.2 km]<1> to the east of the Akin that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Akin.
    • Illinois
      • Franklin County
      • This Akin is located in Franklin County and lies 1,836 miles [2,954.8 km]<1> to the east of the Akin that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Akin.
    • Kansas
      • Graham 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 Kansas community of Akin [Graham County].
    • New York
      • Montgomery 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 New York community of Akin [Montgomery County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Akin ...

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.

  • Edenbower
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Edenbower is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edenbower
  • Green
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Green is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green
  • Lookingglass
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Lookingglass is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lookingglass
  • Oak Creek ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Oak Creek is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Creek
  • Oaks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Oaks is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
  • Redbell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Redbell is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbell
  • Riversdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Riversdale is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riversdale
  • Shady
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Shady is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady
  • Union Gap
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Union Gap is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Gap

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

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

  • Roseburg, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies just to the South.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Akin to Salem, with an average speed<3>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 2,398 miles [3,859.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,071 miles [11,379.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,834 miles [12,607.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,939 miles [9,557.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Akin) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Akin 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 Akin 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 Akin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2904, Longitude: -123.3626       In this case, the coordinates for Akin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.48 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.932 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.668 degrees.