RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> West Feliciana Parish >> Catalpa >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Catalpa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Catalpa 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 Catalpa:
    • 30.853514, -91.376779
    • 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 Catalpa
  • 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 West Feliciana Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for West Feliciana Parish
    • Since Catalpa is near Pointe Coupee Parish and also East Feliciana Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for East Feliciana 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 Catalpa

Communities Also Named Catalpa ...

We found nine communities that are also named Catalpa.

Within Louisiana, the name Catalpa is unique.

Beyond Louisiana, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Pike County
      • This Catalpa is located in Pike County and lies 334 miles [537.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Catalpa that is located in West Feliciana Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Catalpa.
    • Arkansas
      • Johnson County
      • This Catalpa is located in Johnson County and lies 356 miles [572.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Catalpa that is located in West Feliciana Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Catalpa.
    • Kansas
      • Gove 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 Catalpa [Gove County].
    • Kentucky
      • Lawrence County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Catalpa [Lawrence County].
    • Missouri
      • Mississippi County
      • This Catalpa is located in Mississippi County and lies 433 miles [696.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Catalpa that is located in West Feliciana Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of Catalpa.
    • Nebraska
      • Holt County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Catalpa [Holt County].
    • Tennessee
      • Madison 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 Tennessee community of Catalpa [Madison County].
      • Marshall County
      • This Catalpa is located in Marshall County and lies 409 miles [658.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Catalpa that is located in West Feliciana Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Catalpa.
    • Virginia
      • Culpeper County
      • This Catalpa is located in Culpeper County and lies 924 miles [1,487 km]<1> to the northeast of the Catalpa that is located in West Feliciana Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Culpeper County community of Catalpa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Catalpa ...

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.

  • Alice
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Alice is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
  • Converse ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Converse is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Converse
  • Elm Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Elm Park is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Park
  • Flower Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Flower Hill is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flower Hill
  • Freeland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Freeland is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeland
  • Hardwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hardwood is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwood
  • Rosebank
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rosebank is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosebank
  • Solitude
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Solitude is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solitude
  • Spillman
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Spillman is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spillman
  • Starhill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Starhill is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starhill

How Far From Catalpa 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 community such as Catalpa 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 community of Catalpa once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Catalpa and extending to:

  • Saint Francisville, which is the Seat of West Feliciana Parish, lies just to the South.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Catalpa to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 982 miles [1,580.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 56 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,870 miles [11,056.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,583 miles [12,203.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,459 miles [8,785.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Catalpa) 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 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 Catalpa 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 Catalpa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Catalpa 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 Catalpa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.8535, Longitude: -91.3768       In this case, the coordinates for Catalpa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.222 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.882 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.601 degrees.