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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Jena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Jena 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 Jena:
    • 30.412694, -90.433420
    • 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 Jena
  • 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 Tangipahoa Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tangipahoa Parish
    • Since Jena is near Livingston Parish and also Saint John the Baptist Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Livingston Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint John the Baptist 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 Jena

Communities Also Named Jena ...

We found six communities that are also named Jena.

There are two communities within Louisiana that are also named Jena.

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

  • Communities Located In Louisiana ...
    • Catahoula Parish
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Jena [Catahoula Parish].
    • La Salle Parish
      • This Jena is located in La Salle Parish and lies 133 miles [214 km]<2> to the northwest of the Jena that is located in Tangipahoa Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle Parish community of Jena.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Greene County
      • This Jena is located in Greene County and lies 241 miles [387.9 km]<2> to the northeast of the Jena that is located in Tangipahoa Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Jena.
      • Tuscaloosa County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Jena [Tuscaloosa County].
    • Florida
      • Dixie County
      • This Jena is located in Dixie County and lies 425 miles [684 km]<2> to the east of the Jena that is located in Tangipahoa Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dixie County community of Jena.
    • Tennessee
      • Loudon County
      • This Jena is located in Loudon County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<2> to the northeast of the Jena that is located in Tangipahoa Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Loudon County community of Jena.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Jena ...

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.

  • Baptist
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Baptist is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist
  • Cypress Cove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Cypress Cove is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Cove
  • Happy Woods
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Happy Woods is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Woods
  • Hollyridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hollyridge is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollyridge
  • Lees Landing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Lees Landing is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Landing
  • Lincoln Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Oliver
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Oliver is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliver
  • Pumpkin Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pumpkin Center is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
  • Romes Ferry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Romes Ferry is located in Livingston Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romes Ferry
  • Sharkey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Sharkey is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharkey
  • Tallow Wood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Tallow Wood is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallow Wood
  • University Place
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • University Place is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Place
  • Woodland Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Woodland Park is located in Tangipahoa Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

How Far From Jena 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 Jena 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<3> community of Jena once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Jena and extending to:

  • Amite City, which is the Seat of Tangipahoa Parish, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Jena to Amite City, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 43 miles [69.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 958 miles [1,541.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,853 miles [11,028.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,561 miles [12,168.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,438 miles [8,751.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Jena 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.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Jena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Jena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Jena 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 Jena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4127, Longitude: -90.4334       In this case, the coordinates for Jena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.594 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.091 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.292 degrees.