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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McLain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McLain 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 McLain:
    • 32.368204, -92.111802
    • 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 McLain
  • 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 Ouachita Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ouachita Parish
    • Since McLain is near Caldwell Parish and also Richland Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Caldwell Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richland 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 McLain

Communities Also Named McLain ...

We found three communities that are also named McLain.

Within Louisiana, the name McLain is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Harvey County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Harvey County, we don't know where within the parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harvey County community of McLain.
    • Mississippi
      • Greene County
      • This McLain is located in Greene County and lies 211 miles [339.6 km]<2> to the east southeast of the McLain that is located in Ouachita Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of McLain.
    • Oklahoma
      • Muskogee County
      • This McLain is located in Muskogee County and lies 285 miles [458.7 km]<2> to the northwest of the McLain that is located in Ouachita Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muskogee County community of McLain.

Curious and Interesting Names Near McLain ...

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.

  • Cuba
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cuba is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
  • Forest Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Forest Oaks is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Oaks
  • Garden Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Garden Park is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Park
  • Green Terrace
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Green Terrace is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Terrace
  • Kings Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Kings Oaks is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Oaks
  • Lincoln Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Logtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Logtown is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logtown
  • Luna
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Luna is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
  • Richwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Richwood is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,375 people
  • Robinson Place
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Robinson Place is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Place
  • Sunnybrook Farms
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunnybrook Farms is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook Farms
  • Tanglewood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tanglewood is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood

How Far From McLain 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 McLain to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McLain and extending to:

  • Monroe, which is the Seat of Ouachita Parish, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from McLain to Monroe, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 143 miles [230.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 956 miles [1,538.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,824 miles [10,982.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,544 miles [12,140.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,420 miles [8,722.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 McLain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- McLain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 McLain 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 McLain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3682, Longitude: -92.1118       In this case, the coordinates for McLain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.849 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.815 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.681 degrees.