RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> De Soto Parish >> Evelyn >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Evelyn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Evelyn 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 Evelyn:
    • 31.987940, -93.443231
    • 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 Evelyn
  • 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 De Soto Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for De Soto Parish
    • Since Evelyn is near Red River Parish and also Natchitoches Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Red River Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Natchitoches 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 Evelyn

Communities Also Named Evelyn ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Evelyn.

Within Louisiana, the name Evelyn is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Evelyn lies 2,278 miles [3,666.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Evelyn that is located in De Soto Parish.
    • California
      • Inyo County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Evelyn [Inyo County].
    • Georgia
      • Glynn County
      • This Evelyn is located in Glynn County and lies 704 miles [1,133 km]<1> to the east of the Evelyn that is located in De Soto Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Glynn County community of Evelyn.
    • Kentucky
      • Estill County
      • This Evelyn is located in Estill County and lies 667 miles [1,073.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Evelyn that is located in De Soto Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Estill County community of Evelyn.
    • Michigan
      • Alger County
      • This Evelyn is located in Alger County and lies 1,058 miles [1,702.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Evelyn that is located in De Soto Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alger County community of Evelyn.
    • Missouri
      • Macon County
      • Although located in Macon County, we don't know the location within the parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macon County community of Evelyn.
    • Ontario
      • This Evelyn lies 1,019 miles [1,639.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Evelyn that is located in De Soto Parish.
    • South Dakota
      • Brule County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Evelyn [Brule County].
    • Texas
      • Henderson County
      • This Evelyn is located in Henderson County and lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<1> to the west of the Evelyn that is located in De Soto Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Evelyn.
    • West Virginia
      • Greenbrier County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Evelyn [Greenbrier County].
      • Wirt County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Evelyn [Wirt County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Evelyn ...

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.

  • Ajax
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ajax is located in Natchitoches Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ajax
  • Butler ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Butler is located in De Soto Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
  • Edgefield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgefield is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgefield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
  • Emmett
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Emmett is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmett
  • Grand Bayou
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Grand Bayou is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Bayou
  • Grove Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Grove Hill is located in De Soto Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Hill
  • Harris
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Harris is located in Natchitoches Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
  • Magnolia
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Magnolia is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Mineral ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Mineral is located in De Soto Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
  • Oxbow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Oxbow is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxbow
  • Pleasant Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Natchitoches Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill

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

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

  • Mansfield, which is the Seat of De Soto Parish, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Evelyn to Mansfield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 171 miles [275.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,036 miles [1,667.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,896 miles [11,098 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,619 miles [12,261.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,494 miles [8,841.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Evelyn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Evelyn, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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 Evelyn 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>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 Evelyn 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 Evelyn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9879, Longitude: -93.4432       In this case, the coordinates for Evelyn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.652 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.702 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.295 degrees.