RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Concordia Parish >> Black River >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Black River, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Black River 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 Black River:
    • 31.626004, -91.806516
    • 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 Black River
  • 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 Concordia Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Concordia Parish
    • Since Black River is near Catahoula Parish and also La Salle Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Catahoula Parish
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Black River

Communities Also Named Black River ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Black River.

There is one other community in Louisiana that is also named Black River.

Beyond Louisiana, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, nine are located in the United States and nine are in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Louisiana ...
    • Catahoula Parish
      • 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 Louisiana community of Black River [Catahoula Parish].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Manitoba
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore 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 Maryland community of Black River [Baltimore County].
    • Michigan
      • Alcona County
      • This Black River is located in Alcona County and lies 1,019 miles [1,639.9 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Black River that is located in Concordia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alcona County community of Black River.
      • Allegan 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 Michigan community of Black River [Allegan County].
    • Minnesota
      • Koochiching 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 Minnesota community of Black River [Koochiching County].
    • New Brunswick
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • New York
      • Jefferson County
      • This Black River is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,218 miles [1,960.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Black River that is located in Concordia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Black River.
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • Nova Scotia
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • Ontario
      • This Black River lies 1,300 miles [2,092.1 km]<2> to the northeast of the Black River that is located in Concordia Parish.
    • Washington
      • King 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 Washington community of Black River [King County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Douglas County
      • This Black River is located in Douglas County and lies 1,031 miles [1,659.2 km]<2> to the north of the Black River that is located in Concordia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Black River.
      • Sheboygan 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 Wisconsin community of Black River [Sheboygan County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Black River ...

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.

  • Archie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Archie is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archie
  • Elkhorn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Elkhorn is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Frogmore
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Frogmore is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogmore
  • Jonesville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Manifest
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Manifest is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manifest
  • Security
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Security is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Security
  • Stacy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Stacy is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy
  • Trinity
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Trinity is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
  • Utility
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Utility is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utility

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Black River once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Black River and extending to:

  • Vidalia, which is the Seat of Concordia Parish, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Black River to Vidalia, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 89 miles [143.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 970 miles [1,561.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 56 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,849 miles [11,022.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,566 miles [12,176.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,441 miles [8,756.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Black River 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Black River) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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 Black River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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.
<6>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 Black River 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 Black River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6260, Longitude: -91.8065       In this case, the coordinates for Black River have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.577 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.398 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.664 degrees.