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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 Western, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Western 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 Western:
- 33.046560, -93.341987
- 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 Western
- 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 Columbia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- Since Western is near Webster Parish and also Claiborne Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Webster Parish
- Open the eBird sighting report for Claiborne Parish
- 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 Western
Communities Also Named Western ...
We found eight communities that are also named Western.
Within Arkansas, the name Western is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Linn County
- This Western is located in Linn County and lies 615 miles [989.7 km]<1> to the north of the Western that is located in Columbia County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Linn County community of Western.
- Kentucky
- Fulton 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 Kentucky community of Western [Fulton County].
- Minnesota
- Otter Tail County
- This Western is located in Otter Tail County and lies 917 miles [1,475.8 km]<1> to the north of the Western that is located in Columbia County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otter Tail County community of Western.
- Nebraska
- Saline County
- This Western is located in Saline County and lies 550 miles [885.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Western that is located in Columbia County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saline County community of Western.
- North Carolina
- Haywood 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 North Carolina community of Western [Haywood County].
- Utah
- Salt Lake County
- This Western is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,152 miles [1,854 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Western that is located in Columbia County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Western.
- Virginia
- Petersburg City
- 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 Virginia community of Western [Petersburg City].
- Wisconsin
- Milwaukee 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 Wisconsin community of Western [Milwaukee County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Western ...
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.
- Bunker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bunker is located in Webster Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker
- Forest Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Forest Grove is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Harmony
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Harmony is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- Horsehead
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hunt
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Hunt is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt
- Mohawk
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Mohawk is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk
- Porterville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Porterville is located in Webster Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterville
- Rocky Mound
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Rocky Mound is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Mound
- Walnut Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Walnut Grove is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Welcome
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Woodlawn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Woodlawn is located in Webster Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
How Far From Western 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 Western to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Western and extending to:
- Magnolia, which is the Seat of Columbia County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Western to Magnolia, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 132 miles [212.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 994 miles [1,599.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 57 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,838 miles [11,004.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,564 miles [12,173.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,440 miles [8,754.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Western) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Western 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 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 Western 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 Western. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0466, Longitude: -93.3420 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.706 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.904 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.105 degrees. |
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