RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Acadia Parish >> Branch >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Branch:
    • 30.348812, -92.267628
    • 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 Branch
  • 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 Acadia Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Acadia Parish
    • Since Branch is near Saint Landry Parish and also Lafayette Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Landry Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lafayette 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 Branch

Communities Also Named Branch ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Branch.

Within Louisiana, the name Branch is unique.

Beyond Louisiana, we know of fifteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Franklin County
      • This Branch is located in Franklin County and lies 356 miles [572.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Branch.
    • Illinois
      • Saint Clair County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Branch [Saint Clair County].
    • Kansas
      • Jewell County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Branch [Jewell County].
    • Kentucky
      • Harrison County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Branch [Harrison County].
    • Michigan
      • Delta County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Branch [Delta County].
    • Minnesota
      • Chisago County
      • This Branch is located in Chisago County and lies 1,045 miles [1,681.8 km]<1> to the north of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chisago County community of Branch.
    • Mississippi
      • Scott County
      • This Branch is located in Scott County and lies 208 miles [334.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Branch.
    • Missouri
      • Camden County
      • This Branch is located in Camden County and lies 523 miles [841.7 km]<1> to the north of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Branch.
    • Nebraska
      • Cedar County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Cedar County, we don't know where within the parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cedar County community of Branch.
    • New York
      • Suffolk County
      • This Branch is located in Suffolk County and lies 1,289 miles [2,074.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk County community of Branch.
      • Ulster County
      • This Branch is located in Ulster County and lies 1,272 miles [2,047.1 km] to the northeast of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ulster County community of Branch.
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Branch lies 2,328 miles [3,746.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Mercer County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Branch [Mercer County].
    • Texas
      • Collin County
      • This Branch is located in Collin County and lies 313 miles [503.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Collin County community of Branch.
    • Wisconsin
      • Manitowoc County
      • This Branch is located in Manitowoc County and lies 983 miles [1,582 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Branch that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Manitowoc County community of Branch.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Branch ...

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.

  • Judd
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Judd is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judd
  • Keystone
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Keystone is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Lewisburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lewisburg is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
  • Maxie
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Maxie is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxie
  • Peach Bloom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Peach Bloom is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Bloom
  • Richard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Richard is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richard
  • Roberts Cove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Roberts Cove is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Cove
  • Sunset
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Sunset is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,962 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sunset <4>
  • Swords
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Swords is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swords
  • Vatican
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Vatican is located in Lafayette Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vatican

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

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

  • Crowley, which is the Seat of Acadia Parish, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Branch to Crowley, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,045 miles [1,681.8 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,932 miles [11,156 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,645 miles [12,303.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,521 miles [8,885.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Branch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Branch 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.
<3>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 Branch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Branch 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 Branch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.3488, Longitude: -92.2676       In this case, the coordinates for Branch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.712 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.387 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.027 degrees.