Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ames, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ames and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ames
- 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 Ames:
- 30.055513, -94.744764
- 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 Ames
- 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 Liberty County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Liberty County
- Since Ames is near Hardin County and also Chambers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hardin County
- eBird sighting report for Chambers 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 Ames ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Ames.
There is one other community in Texas which is also named Ames.
Beyond Texas, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Alger 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 Michigan community of Ames [Alger County].
- Menominee 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 Michigan community of Ames [Menominee County].
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ames ...
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.
- Cow Island
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cow Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cow Island
- Cow Island is located in Liberty County
- Hogpen Crossing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hogpen Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogpen Crossing
- Hogpen Crossing is located in Liberty County
- Hull
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hull have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
- Hull is located in Liberty County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <5>
- Ladd
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Liberty
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Liberty is located in Liberty County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,506 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Liberty <5>
- Martha
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Rock Island
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island
- Rock Island is located in Liberty County
- Strain
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Tanner Settlement
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tanner Settlement have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner Settlement
- Tanner Settlement is located in Liberty County
How Far From Ames 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 Ames to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ames and extending to:
- Liberty, which is the Seat of Liberty County, lies just to the West.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 179 miles [288.1 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Ames to Austin, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,175 miles [1,891 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,047 miles [11,341 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,767 miles [12,499.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,642 miles [9,079.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ames. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Liberty County: www.co.liberty.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ames) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ames. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.0555, Longitude: -94.7448 |
| <2> | 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 Ames, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Ames 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 Ames 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 318.232 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.13 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.07 degrees. |