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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elmer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elmer 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 Elmer:
    • 29.818818, -90.865928
    • 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 Elmer
  • 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 Lafourche Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lafourche Parish
    • Since Elmer is near Terrebonne Parish and also Assumption Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Terrebonne Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Assumption 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 Elmer

Communities Also Named Elmer ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Elmer.

There is one other community in Louisiana that is also named Elmer.

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

  • Communities Located In Louisiana ...
    • Rapides Parish
      • This Elmer is located in Rapides Parish and lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rapides Parish community of Elmer.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Kern 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 California community of Elmer [Kern County].
    • Georgia
      • Screven 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 Georgia community of Elmer [Screven County].
    • Kansas
      • Reno County
      • This Elmer is located in Reno County and lies 692 miles [1,113.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reno County community of Elmer.
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Elmer is located in Montgomery County and lies 995 miles [1,601.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Elmer.
    • Michigan
      • Sanilac County
      • This Elmer is located in Sanilac County and lies 1,035 miles [1,665.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sanilac County community of Elmer.
    • Minnesota
      • Clay 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 Minnesota community of Elmer [Clay County].
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Elmer is located in Saint Louis County and lies 1,197 miles [1,926.4 km]<1> to the north of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Elmer.
    • Missouri
      • Macon County
      • This Elmer is located in Macon County and lies 707 miles [1,137.8 km]<1> to the north of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macon County community of Elmer.
    • Nebraska
      • Hayes 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 Nebraska community of Elmer [Hayes County].
    • New Jersey
      • Salem 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 New Jersey community of Elmer [Salem County].
    • North Carolina
      • Lenoir 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 North Carolina community of Elmer [Lenoir County].
      • Yancey County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Elmer [Yancey County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Jackson County
      • This Elmer is located in Jackson County and lies 591 miles [951.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Elmer.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Potter County
      • This Elmer is located in Potter County and lies 1,114 miles [1,792.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Elmer that is located in Lafourche Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Potter County community of Elmer.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elmer ...

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.

  • Chackbay
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Chackbay is located in Lafourche Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chackbay
  • Georgia
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Georgia is located in Assumption Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgia
  • Himalaya
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Himalaya is located in Assumption Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Himalaya
  • Isle of Cuba
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Isle of Cuba is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Cuba
  • Lowlands
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lowlands is located in Lafourche Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowlands
  • Magnolia
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Magnolia is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Magnolia Plantation
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Magnolia Plantation is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Plantation
  • Minerva Plantation
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Minerva Plantation is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minerva Plantation
  • Supreme
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Supreme is located in Assumption Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Supreme
  • Twelve Cedars
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Twelve Cedars is located in Lafourche Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Cedars

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

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

  • Thibodaux, which is the Seat of Lafourche Parish, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 46 miles [74 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Elmer to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,005 miles [1,617.4 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 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,901 miles [11,106.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,607 miles [12,242.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,485 miles [8,827.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Elmer) 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 Elmer 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>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.
<4>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 Elmer 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 Elmer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8188, Longitude: -90.8659       In this case, the coordinates for Elmer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.786 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.236 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.544 degrees.