RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Highlands County >> Sylvan Shores >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sylvan Shores, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sylvan Shores and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Sylvan Shores:
    • 27.318061, -81.341242
    • 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 Sylvan Shores
  • 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 Highlands County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Highlands County
    • Since Sylvan Shores is near Hardee County and also Glades County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardee County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Glades 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 Sylvan Shores

Communities Also Named Sylvan Shores ...

We found four communities that are also named Sylvan Shores.

There is one other community in Florida that is also named Sylvan Shores.

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

  • Communities Located In Florida ...
    • Lake 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 Sylvan Shores [Lake County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Sylvan Shores is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 848 miles [1,364.7 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Sylvan Shores that is located in Highlands County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Sylvan Shores.
    • Ohio
      • Clark County
      • This Sylvan Shores is located in Clark County and lies 880 miles [1,416.2 km]<2> to the north of the Sylvan Shores that is located in Highlands County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Sylvan Shores.
    • Wisconsin
      • Green Lake County
      • This Sylvan Shores is located in Green Lake County and lies 1,216 miles [1,957 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Sylvan Shores that is located in Highlands County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Green Lake County community of Sylvan Shores.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sylvan Shores ...

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.

  • Bear Hollow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bear Hollow is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Hollow
  • Childs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Childs is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
  • Crewsville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Crewsville is located in Hardee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
  • De Soto City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • De Soto City is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
  • Fort Kissimmee
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Kissimmee is located in Okeechobee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Kissimmee
  • Placid Lakes
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Placid Lakes is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placid Lakes
  • Plains
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Plains is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains
  • Wild Island
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Wild Island is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Island

How Far From Sylvan Shores to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sylvan Shores to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Sebring, which is the Seat of Highlands County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sylvan Shores to Sebring, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 279 miles [449 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 837 miles [1,347 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,595 miles [10,613.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,256 miles [11,677.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,162 miles [8,307.4 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 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 Sylvan Shores 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- Sylvan Shores) 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 Sylvan Shores 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 Sylvan Shores. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.3181, Longitude: -81.3412       In this case, the coordinates for Sylvan Shores have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.198 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.41 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.673 degrees.