RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ordway, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ordway 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 Ordway:
    • 45.578584, -98.412041
    • 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 Ordway
  • 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 Ordway ...

We found five communities that share the name Ordway.

Within South Dakota, the name Ordway is unique.

Beyond South Dakota, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Riverside County
      • This Ordway is located in Riverside County and lies 1,270 miles [2,043.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Ordway that is located in Brown County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Riverside County community of Ordway.
    • Colorado
      • Crowley County
      • This Ordway is located in Crowley County and lies 577 miles [928.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Ordway that is located in Brown County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crowley County community of Ordway.
      • Otero 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 Colorado community of Ordway [Otero County].
    • Georgia
      • Muscogee 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 Ordway [Muscogee County].
    • Massachusetts
      • Middlesex 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 Massachusetts community of Ordway [Middlesex County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ordway ...

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.

  • Bath
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Craven
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven
    • Craven is located in Edmunds County
  • Craven Corner
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven Corner
    • Craven Corner is located in Edmunds County
  • Frederick
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Frisby ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frisby have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisby
    • Frisby is located in Clark County
  • James
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for James have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
    • James is located in Brown County
  • Randolph
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Randolph have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Randolph is located in Brown County
  • Rudolph
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rudolph have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudolph
    • Rudolph is located in Brown County

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

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

  • Aberdeen, which is the Seat of Brown County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 125 miles [201.2 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Ordway to Pierre, with an average speed<5>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 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,181 miles [1,900.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 68 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,351 miles [10,220.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,112 miles [11,445.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,044 miles [8,117.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ordway. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Brown County: www.brown.sd.us/

The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ordway) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ordway. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.5786, Longitude: -98.4120       In this case, the coordinates for Ordway 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 Ordway 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 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 Ordway to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 322.012 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.479 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.361 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024