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.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fords
- 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:
- 32.548208, -92.995438
- 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 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 Bienville Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bienville Parish
- Since Fords is near Claiborne Parish and also Lincoln Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Claiborne Parish
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Fords ...
We found six communities that share the name Fords.
There is one other community in Louisiana which is also named Fords.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Louisiana ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- Texas
- 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 931 miles [1,498.3 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Fords that is located in Bienville 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.
- Crossroads
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
- Crossroads is located in Lincoln Parish
- Hurricane
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Liberty Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Liberty Hill is located in Lincoln Parish
- Nine Forks
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nine Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nine Forks
- Nine Forks is located in Webster Parish
- Oak Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Pleasant Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Bienville Parish
- Point Pleasant
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
- Point Pleasant is located in Claiborne Parish
- Sugar Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
- Sugar Creek is located in Claiborne Parish
- Tulip
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
How Far From Fords 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 Fords to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fords and extending to:
- Arcadia, which is the Seat of Bienville Parish, lies just to the East.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 180 miles [289.7 km]<3> to the southeast (SE). 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 a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 994 miles [1,599.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 57 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,850 miles [11,024 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,573 miles [12,187.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,449 miles [8,769.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fords. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Bienville Parish: www.bienvilleparish.org/
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 Fords, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Fords) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fords. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.5482, Longitude: -92.9954 In this case, the coordinates for Fords have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Fords 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 317.429 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.516 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.028 degrees. |