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










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Louisiana


The Commemorative Quarter for Louisiana







Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Fitzgerald:
    • 31.108243, -92.508471
    • 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 Fitzgerald
  • 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 Fitzgerald ...

We found seven communities that share the name Fitzgerald.

Within Louisiana, the name Fitzgerald is unique.

Beyond Louisiana, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Fitzgerald lies 2,172 miles [3,495.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Fitzgerald that is located in Rapides Parish.
    • Arkansas
      • Jackson County
      • This Fitzgerald is located in Jackson County and lies 321 miles [516.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Fitzgerald that is located in Rapides Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Fitzgerald.
    • Florida
      • Hernando 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 Florida community of Fitzgerald [Hernando County].
    • Georgia
      • Ben Hill County
      • This Fitzgerald is located in Ben Hill County and lies 546 miles [878.7 km]<1> to the east of the Fitzgerald that is located in Rapides Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ben Hill County community of Fitzgerald.
    • North Carolina
      • Rockingham County
      • This Fitzgerald is located in Rockingham County and lies 825 miles [1,327.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fitzgerald that is located in Rapides Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Fitzgerald.
    • Texas
      • Anderson 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 Texas community of Fitzgerald [Anderson County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Winnebago County
      • This Fitzgerald is located in Winnebago County and lies 913 miles [1,469.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Fitzgerald that is located in Rapides Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winnebago County community of Fitzgerald.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fitzgerald ...

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.

  • Castor Plunge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castor Plunge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castor Plunge
    • Castor Plunge is located in Rapides Parish
  • Chambers
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chambers have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers
    • Chambers is located in Rapides Parish
  • Clearwater
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearwater have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater
    • Clearwater is located in Evangeline Parish
  • Cloverdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Cloverdale is located in Rapides Parish
  • Clubhouse Landing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clubhouse Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clubhouse Landing
    • Clubhouse Landing is located in Rapides Parish
  • Dove Landing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dove Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dove Landing
    • Dove Landing is located in Rapides Parish
  • Elmer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer
    • Elmer is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmer <4>
  • Longleaf
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longleaf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longleaf
    • Longleaf is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longleaf <4>
  • Lyles ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyles have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyles
    • Lyles is located in Rapides Parish
  • Meeker
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meeker have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
    • Meeker is located in Rapides Parish
  • Squealer Point Landing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Squealer Point Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squealer Point Landing
    • Squealer Point Landing is located in Evangeline Parish
  • Willow Glen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen
    • Willow Glen is located in Rapides Parish

How Far From Fitzgerald 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 Fitzgerald 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<5> community of Fitzgerald once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Fitzgerald and extending to:

  • Alexandria, which is the Seat of Rapides Parish, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Fitzgerald to Alexandria, with an average speed<6> 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 92 miles [148.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,025 miles [1,649.6 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,904 miles [11,110.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,620 miles [12,263.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,496 miles [8,845 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

The official website for Rapides Parish: www.rppj.com/

The official website for State of Louisiana: https://www.louisiana.gov/

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fitzgerald) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fitzgerald. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.1082, Longitude: -92.5085       In this case, the coordinates for Fitzgerald have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 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 Fitzgerald 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>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.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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 Fitzgerald, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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.
<7>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 Fitzgerald to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.956 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.773 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.024 degrees.









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 23 Mar 2025