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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fortson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fortson 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 Fortson:
    • 32.051550, -93.486287
    • 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 Fortson
  • 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 Fortson 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 Fortson

Communities Also Named Fortson ...

We found two communities that are also named Fortson.

Within Louisiana, the name Fortson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Muscogee County
      • This Fortson is located in Muscogee County and lies 500 miles [804.7 km]<1> to the east of the Fortson that is located in De Soto Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muscogee County community of Fortson.
    • Washington
      • Snohomish County
      • This Fortson is located in Snohomish County and lies 1,846 miles [2,970.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Fortson that is located in De Soto Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Snohomish County community of Fortson.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fortson ...

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.

  • Bayou Pierre
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Bayou Pierre is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Pierre
  • Edgefield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Edgefield is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgefield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
  • Emmett
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Emmett is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmett
  • Evelyn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Evelyn is located in De Soto Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evelyn
  • Grand Bayou
    (2 miles [3.2 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 southwest)
    • Grove Hill is located in De Soto Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Hill
  • Halfway
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Halfway is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway
  • Magnolia
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Magnolia is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Oxbow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Oxbow is located in Red River Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxbow

How Far From Fortson 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 Fortson 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<2> community of Fortson once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Fortson and extending to:

  • Mansfield, which is the Seat of De Soto Parish, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Fortson to Mansfield, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 176 miles [283.2 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,895 miles [11,096.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,618 miles [12,260 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,493 miles [8,840.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fortson) 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 Fortson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Fortson 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 Fortson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0515, Longitude: -93.4863       In this case, the coordinates for Fortson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.687 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.751 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.305 degrees.