RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Blackford County >> Matamoras >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Matamoras, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Matamoras 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 Matamoras:
    • 40.554212, -85.263028
    • 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 Matamoras
  • 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 Blackford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blackford County
    • Since Matamoras is near Wells County and also Jay County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wells County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jay 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 Matamoras

Communities Also Named Matamoras ...

We found three communities that are also named Matamoras.

Within Indiana, the name Matamoras is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Washington County
      • This Matamoras is located in Washington County and lies 232 miles [373.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Matamoras that is located in Blackford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Matamoras.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Dauphin County
      • This Matamoras is located in Dauphin County and lies 437 miles [703.3 km]<1> to the east of the Matamoras that is located in Blackford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dauphin County community of Matamoras.
      • Pike County
      • This Matamoras is located in Pike County and lies 553 miles [890 km] to the east of the Matamoras that is located in Blackford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Matamoras.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Matamoras ...

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.

  • Buckeye
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckeye is located in Huntington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Domestic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Domestic is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Domestic
  • Fiat
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fiat is located in Jay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiat
  • Five Points
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Five Points is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Greenville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Greenville is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
  • Jeff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jeff is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeff
  • Keystone
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Keystone is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Liberty Center
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Liberty Center is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Center
  • Petroleum
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Petroleum is located in Wells County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petroleum
  • Ridertown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Ridertown is located in Blackford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridertown

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

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

  • Hartford City, which is the Seat of Blackford County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Matamoras to Hartford City, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 451 miles [725.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,156 miles [9,907.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,886 miles [11,081.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,764 miles [7,666.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Matamoras) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Matamoras 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 Matamoras. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5542, Longitude: -85.2630       In this case, the coordinates for Matamoras have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.899 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.389 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.815 degrees.