RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of West Virginia >> Wyoming County >> Otsego >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Otsego, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Otsego 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 Otsego:
    • 37.612614, -81.375381
    • 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 Otsego
  • 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 Wyoming County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
    • Since Otsego is near Raleigh County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Otsego

Communities Also Named Otsego ...

We found eight communities that are also named Otsego.

Within West Virginia, the name Otsego is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Otsego #
      • This community is historichttp://www.waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&lat=37.612614&lon=-81.375381&t=6 and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Otsego.
    • Kansas
      • Clay County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Otsego [Clay County].
    • Michigan
      • Allegan County
      • This Otsego is located in Allegan County and lies 405 miles [651.8 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Otsego that is located in Wyoming County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegan County community of Otsego.
      • Otsego County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Otsego [Otsego County].
    • Minnesota
      • Wright County
      • This Otsego is located in Wright County and lies 823 miles [1,324.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Otsego that is located in Wyoming County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wright County community of Otsego.
    • Ohio
      • Muskingum County
      • This Otsego is located in Muskingum County and lies 174 miles [280 km]<2> to the north of the Otsego that is located in Wyoming County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muskingum County community of Otsego.
      • Wood County
      • This Otsego is located in Wood County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km] to the north northwest of the Otsego that is located in Wyoming County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wood County community of Otsego.
    • Wisconsin
      • Columbia County
      • This Otsego is located in Columbia County and lies 571 miles [918.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Otsego that is located in Wyoming County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Otsego.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Otsego ...

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.

  • Amigo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Amigo is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amigo
  • Blackeagle
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Blackeagle is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackeagle
  • Bud
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Bud is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud
  • Helen
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Helen is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen
  • Itmann
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Itmann is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Itmann
  • Joe Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Joe Branch is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joe Branch
  • Mead
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Mead is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mead
  • Newfound
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Newfound is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newfound
  • Polk Gap
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Polk Gap is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk Gap
  • Slab Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Slab Fork is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Fork
  • Stonecoal Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Stonecoal Junction is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecoal Junction

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

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

  • Pineville, which is the Seat of Wyoming County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Otsego to Pineville, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 251 miles [403.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,136 miles [9,874.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,846 miles [11,017.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,722 miles [7,599.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Otsego 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.
<2>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- Otsego) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Otsego 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 Otsego. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6126, Longitude: -81.3754       In this case, the coordinates for Otsego have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.519 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.242 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.989 degrees.