RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> DeSoto County >> Platt >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Platt, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Platt 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 Platt:
    • 27.091999, -82.001753
    • 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 Platt
  • 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 DeSoto County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DeSoto County
    • Since Platt is near Charlotte County and also Sarasota County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlotte County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sarasota 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 Platt

Communities Also Named Platt ...

We found six communities that are also named Platt.

Within Florida, the name Platt is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Idaho
      • Bingham 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 Idaho community of Platt [Bingham County].
    • Iowa
      • Clay 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 Iowa community of Platt [Clay County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Cambria 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 Pennsylvania community of Platt [Cambria County].
    • South Carolina
      • Lexington 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 South Carolina community of Platt [Lexington County].
    • Texas
      • Angelina County
      • This Platt is located in Angelina County and lies 815 miles [1,311.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Platt that is located in DeSoto County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Angelina County community of Platt.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Platt is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,933 miles [3,110.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Platt that is located in DeSoto County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Platt.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Platt ...

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.

  • Belgium ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Belgium is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgium
  • Deep Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Deep Creek is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Creek
  • Fishermens Village
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Fishermens Village is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishermens Village
  • Harbor View
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Harbor View is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
  • Harbour Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Harbour Heights is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbour Heights
  • Hull
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hull is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
  • Lake Suzy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Suzy is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Suzy
  • Peace River Shores
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Peace River Shores is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace River Shores
  • Pine Level
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Pine Level is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
  • Ridge Harbor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridge Harbor is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Harbor
  • Tryon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Tryon is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryon

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

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

  • Arcadia, which is the Seat of DeSoto County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Platt to Arcadia, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 269 miles [432.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 864 miles [1,390.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,636 miles [10,679.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,299 miles [11,746.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,203 miles [8,373.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Platt 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- Platt) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Platt 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 Platt. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.0920, Longitude: -82.0018       In this case, the coordinates for Platt have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.521 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.753 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.921 degrees.