Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dorcas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dorcas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dorcas
- 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 Dorcas:
- 30.798243, -86.415782
- 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 Dorcas
- 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 Okaloosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Okaloosa County
- Since Dorcas is near Walton County and also Covington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Walton County
- eBird sighting report for Covington 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 Dorcas ...
We found five communities that share the name Dorcas.
Within Florida, the name Dorcas is unique.
Beyond Florida, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dorcas ...
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.
- Cluster Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cluster Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cluster Springs
- Cluster Springs is located in Walton County
- Deerland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Flowersville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flowersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowersville
- Flowersville is located in Walton County
- Garden City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Okaloosa County
- Gordon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Liberty
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Mossy Head
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossy Head
- Mossy Head is located in Walton County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mossy Head <5>
- New Harmony
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Harmony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Harmony
- New Harmony is located in Walton County
- Oak Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Pleasant Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Walton County
- Pond Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pond Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Creek
- Pond Creek is located in Walton County
- Silver Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
- Silver Springs is located in Okaloosa County
How Far From Dorcas 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 Dorcas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dorcas and extending to:
- Crestview, which is the Seat of Okaloosa County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dorcas to Crestview, 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.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 129 miles [207.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 770 miles [1,239.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,664 miles [10,724.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,360 miles [11,844.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,241 miles [8,434.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dorcas. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Okaloosa County: www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/
The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/
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 Dorcas 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> | 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 Dorcas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dorcas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dorcas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.7982, Longitude: -86.4158 In this case, the coordinates for Dorcas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Dorcas 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 313.251 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.421 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.696 degrees. |