RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Betts, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Betts 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 Betts:
    • 30.537694, -85.393259
    • 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 Betts
  • 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 Bay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bay County
    • Since Betts is near Jackson County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Betts

Communities Also Named Betts ...

We found three communities that are also named Betts.

Within Florida, the name Betts is unique.

Beyond Florida, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Conecuh 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 Alabama community of Betts [Conecuh County].
    • Georgia
      • Meriwether County
      • This Betts is located in Meriwether County and lies 173 miles [278.4 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Betts that is located in Bay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meriwether County community of Betts.
    • South Dakota
      • Davison County
      • This Betts is located in Davison County and lies 1,145 miles [1,842.7 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Betts that is located in Bay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davison County community of Betts.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Betts ...

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.

  • Cairo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Cairo is located in Bay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
  • Clarksville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Compass Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Compass Lake is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compass Lake
  • Couch
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Couch is located in Bay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Couch
  • Fisher Corner
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fisher Corner is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Corner
  • Fountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Gilberts Mill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilberts Mill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilberts Mill
  • Greenhead
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Greenhead is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenhead
  • Kent Mill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Kent Mill is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Mill
  • Nixon
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Nixon is located in Bay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon
  • Rock Creek
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Rock Creek is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
  • Round Lake
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Round Lake is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Lake
  • Sink Creek
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sink Creek is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sink Creek

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

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

  • Panama City, which is the Seat of Bay County, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Betts to Panama City, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 746 miles [1,200.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,632 miles [10,673.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,324 miles [11,786.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,207 miles [8,379.9 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 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 Betts 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Betts) 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 Betts 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 Betts. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.5377, Longitude: -85.3933       In this case, the coordinates for Betts have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.642 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.68 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.371 degrees.