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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Muse, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Muse 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 Muse:
    • 31.221849, -92.797372
    • 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 Muse
  • 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 Rapides Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rapides Parish
    • Since Muse is near Vernon Parish and also Grant Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vernon Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grant 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 Muse

Communities Also Named Muse ...

We found four communities that are also named Muse.

Within Louisiana, the name Muse is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Glades 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 Florida community of Muse [Glades County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Le Flore County
      • This Muse is located in Le Flore County and lies 264 miles [424.9 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Muse that is located in Rapides Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Le Flore County community of Muse.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Washington County
      • This Muse is located in Washington County and lies 941 miles [1,514.4 km]<2> to the northeast of the Muse that is located in Rapides Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Muse.
    • Virginia
      • Roanoke County
      • This Muse is located in Roanoke County and lies 848 miles [1,364.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Muse that is located in Rapides Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke County community of Muse.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Muse ...

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.

  • Crane
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Crane is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
  • Elmer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Hemphill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hemphill is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
  • Hicks Crossing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hicks Crossing is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Crossing
  • Hood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hood is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
  • Hot Wells
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hot Wells is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Wells
  • McNutt
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • McNutt is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNutt
  • Price Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Price Crossing is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Crossing
  • Temple
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Temple is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple

How Far From Muse 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 Muse 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 Muse once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Muse and extending to:

  • Alexandria, which is the Seat of Rapides Parish, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Muse to Alexandria, with an average speed<5> 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 111 miles [178.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,034 miles [1,664.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,910 miles [11,120.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,628 miles [12,276.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,503 miles [8,856.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Muse 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Muse) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Muse, 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 Muse 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 Muse. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.2218, Longitude: -92.7974       In this case, the coordinates for Muse have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.151 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.016 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.128 degrees.