Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ball, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ball and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ball
- 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 Ball:
- 31.419169, -92.408639
- 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 Ball
- 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 Rapides Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rapides Parish
- Since Ball is near Grant Parish and also La Salle Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grant Parish
- eBird sighting report for La Salle 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 Ball ...
We found eight communities that share the name Ball.
Within Louisiana, the name Ball is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Crawford County
- This Ball is located in Crawford County and lies 302 miles [486 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Ball that is located in Rapides Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Ball.
- Pike County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Ball [Pike County].
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ball ...
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.
- Fishville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Green Gables
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Gables have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Gables
- Green Gables is located in Rapides Parish
- Kingsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kingsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsville
- Kingsville is located in Rapides Parish
- Lee Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Heights
- Lee Heights is located in Rapides Parish
- Magnolia Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magnolia Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Park
- Magnolia Park is located in Grant Parish
- Paradise
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Pollock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollock
- Pollock is located in Grant Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 483 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pollock <5>
- Prospect
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Stay
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
- Stay is located in Grant Parish
- Timber Trails
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timber Trails have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Trails
- Timber Trails is located in Rapides Parish
How Far From Ball 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 town such as Ball to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ball and extending to:
- Alexandria, which is the Seat of Rapides Parish, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Ball to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,007 miles [1,620.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,884 miles [11,078.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,602 miles [12,234.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,477 miles [8,814.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ball. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Rapides Parish: www.rppj.com/
The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ball) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ball. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4192, Longitude: -92.4086 In this case, the coordinates for Ball have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Ball, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Ball 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. |
| <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 Ball 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 316.93 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.784 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.941 degrees. |