RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Van Buren County >> Formosa >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Formosa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Formosa 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 Formosa:
    • 35.463798, -92.509659
    • 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 Formosa
  • 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 Van Buren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
    • Since Formosa is near Conway County and also Faulkner County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Conway County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Faulkner 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 Formosa

Communities Also Named Formosa ...

We found four communities that are also named Formosa.

Within Arkansas, the name Formosa is unique.

Beyond Arkansas, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Orange 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 Florida community of Formosa [Orange County].
    • Illinois
      • Madison 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 Illinois community of Formosa [Madison County].
    • Ontario
      • This Formosa lies 842 miles [1,355.1 km]<2> to the northeast of the Formosa that is located in Van Buren County.
    • Virginia
      • Charlotte County
      • This Formosa is located in Charlotte County and lies 777 miles [1,250.5 km]<2> to the east of the Formosa that is located in Van Buren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charlotte County community of Formosa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Formosa ...

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.

  • Bee Branch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Bee Branch is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Branch
  • Butter Creek ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Butter Creek is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butter Creek
  • Buzzard Roost ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Buzzard Roost is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzard Roost
  • Choctaw
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Choctaw is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw
  • Friendship
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Friendship is located in Conway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Gravel Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Gravel Hill is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
  • Green Tree
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine Mountain ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Mountain is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
  • Pleasant Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Pleasant Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Conway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Rabbit Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rabbit Ridge is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Ridge
  • Scotland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Shake Rag ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Shake Rag is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shake Rag
  • Walnut Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

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

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

  • Clinton, which is the Seat of Van Buren County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Formosa to Clinton, with an average speed<4> 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.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 51 miles [82.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 882 miles [1,419.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,683 miles [10,755.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,414 miles [11,931.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,292 miles [8,516.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Formosa 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Formosa) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Formosa 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 Formosa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4638, Longitude: -92.5097    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.393 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.858 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.351 degrees.