Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alton
- 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 Alton:
- 26.289284, -98.313690
- 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 Alton
- 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- Since Alton is near Starr County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Starr County
- eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 Alton ...
We found 35 communities that share the name Alton.
There is one other community in Texas which is also named Alton.
Beyond Texas, we know of another 34 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 34 communities, 33 are located in the United States and four are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Milton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Alton [Milton County].
- Tattnall County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Alton [Tattnall County].
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Lyon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alton [Lyon County].
- Osborne County
- This Alton is located in Osborne County and lies 910 miles [1,464.5 km]<2> to the north of the Alton that is located in Hidalgo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Osborne County community of Alton.
- Sumner County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alton [Sumner County].
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Concordia Parish
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Alton [Concordia Parish].
- Saint Tammany Parish
- This Alton is located in Saint Tammany Parish and lies 589 miles [947.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Alton that is located in Hidalgo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Tammany Parish community of Alton.
- Maine
- Michigan
- Delta County
- This Alton is located in Delta County and lies 1,492 miles [2,401.1 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Alton that is located in Hidalgo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delta County community of Alton.
- Kent County
- This Alton is located in Kent County and lies 1,365 miles [2,196.8 km] to the north northeast of the Alton that is located in Hidalgo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kent County community of Alton.
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Nova Scotia
- This Alton lies 2,328 miles [3,746.6 km]<2> to the northeast of the Alton that is located in Hidalgo County.
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alton ...
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.
- Blue Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Carol
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Citrus City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Citrus City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus City
- Citrus City is located in Hidalgo County
- Hill-Top
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Inspiration Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inspiration Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inspiration Heights
- Inspiration Heights is located in Hidalgo County
- Inspiration Heights has also been known as:
- Inspiration Heights Colonia
- Inspiration Point
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inspiration Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inspiration Point
- Inspiration Point is located in Hidalgo County
- Inspiration Point has also been known as:
- Inspiration Point Colonia
- Kane
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Leslie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Mission
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
- Mission is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 84,496 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mission <5>
- Rush
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Storylane
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Sun Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
- Sun Valley is located in Hidalgo County
- Sun Valley has also been known as:
- Sun Valley Colonia
How Far From Alton to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Alton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alton and extending to:
- Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Alton to Edinburg, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 276 miles [444.2 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,507 miles [2,425.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 86 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,386 miles [11,886.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,104 miles [13,042.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,980 miles [9,623.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Alton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 from Point A (ie- Alton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2893, Longitude: -98.3137 In this case, the coordinates for Alton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Alton 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. |
| <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> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Alton to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.895 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.608 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.801 degrees. |