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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fords, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fords 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 Fords:
- 30.572422, -92.793202
- 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 Fords
- 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 Allen Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Allen Parish
- Since Fords is near Jefferson Davis Parish and also Evangeline Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson Davis Parish
- Open the eBird sighting report for Evangeline 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 Fords
Communities Also Named Fords ...
We found six communities that are also named Fords.
There is one other community in Louisiana that is also named Fords.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Located In Louisiana ...
- Bienville Parish
- This Fords is located in Bienville Parish and lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<1> to the north of the Fords that is located in Allen Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bienville Parish community of Fords.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- Pike 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 Missouri community of Fords [Pike County].
- New Jersey
- Middlesex County
- This Fords is located in Middlesex County and lies 1,241 miles [1,997.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Fords that is located in Allen Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Fords.
- Texas
- Harrison 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 Fords [Harrison County].
- Virginia
- Dinwiddie 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 Virginia community of Fords [Dinwiddie County].
- Goochland County
- This Fords is located in Goochland County and lies 990 miles [1,593.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fords that is located in Allen Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Goochland County community of Fords.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fords ...
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.
- Bond
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bond is located in Allen Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bond
- China
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- China is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China
- Edna
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Edna is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
- Elder
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Elder is located in Allen Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
- Elton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Elton is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,134 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elton <3>
- Gravel Point
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Gravel Point is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Point
- Harmony
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Harmony is located in Allen Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- Indian Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Indian Village is located in Allen Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
- Kinder
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lyles
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lyles is located in Allen Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyles
- Stanley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Stanley is located in Allen Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
How Far From Fords 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 Fords 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<4> community of Fords once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Fords and extending to:
- Oberlin, which is the Seat of Allen Parish, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 97 miles [156.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Fords to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,060 miles [1,705.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 61 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,942 miles [11,172.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,658 miles [12,324.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,533 miles [8,904.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Fords) 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 Fords 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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 Fords, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Fords 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 Fords. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.5724, Longitude: -92.7932 In this case, the coordinates for Fords have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.068 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.833 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.21 degrees. |
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