Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alco, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alco and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alco
- 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 Alco:
- 31.334235, -93.131084
- 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 Alco
- 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 parish-by-parish basis. We have selected Vernon Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Vernon Parish
- Since Alco is near Natchitoches Parish and also Rapides Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Natchitoches Parish
- eBird sighting report for Rapides Parish
- 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 Alco ...
We found six communities that share the name Alco.
Within Louisiana, the name Alco is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alco ...
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.
- Comrade
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Fisherville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisherville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisherville
- Fisherville is located in Vernon Parish
- Hicks
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
- Hicks is located in Vernon Parish
- Hicks Crossing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hicks Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Crossing
- Hicks Crossing is located in Vernon Parish
- Lotus
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Mayo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Mink
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Red Dirt ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Temple
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Walnut Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Walnut Hill is located in Vernon Parish
How Far From Alco to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Alco to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alco and extending to:
- Leesville, which is the Seat of Vernon Parish, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alco to Leesville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 132 miles [212.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,046 miles [1,683.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,917 miles [11,131.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,637 miles [12,290.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,512 miles [8,870.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alco. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/
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 Alco 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 parish. 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' (or 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- Alco) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alco. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3342, Longitude: -93.1311 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Alco to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.375 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.293 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.251 degrees. |