Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Crane, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Crane and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Crane
- 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 Crane:
- 31.329902, -92.680980
- 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 Crane
- 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 Crane is near Grant Parish and also Vernon Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grant Parish
- eBird sighting report for Vernon 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 Crane ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Crane.
Within Louisiana, the name Crane is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Yuma County
- Although located in Yuma County, we don't know the location within the parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yuma County community of Crane.
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Montana
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Arizona
Curious and Interesting Names Near Crane ...
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.
- Alfalfa
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Graham ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Hemphill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Hot Wells
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Wells
- Hot Wells is located in Rapides Parish
- Kateland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - McNutt
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Mead ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Oasis
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Sharp
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Crane 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 Crane to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Crane and extending to:
- Alexandria, which is the Seat of Rapides Parish, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Crane to Alexandria, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 108 miles [173.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,024 miles [1,648 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,899 miles [11,102.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,618 miles [12,260 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,493 miles [8,840.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Crane. 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> | 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 Crane, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- Crane) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Crane. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3299, Longitude: -92.6810 In this case, the coordinates for Crane have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Crane 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 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 Crane to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.091 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.96 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.065 degrees. |