Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Smithland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Smithland
- 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 Smithland:
- 30.911157, -91.663599
- 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 Smithland
- 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 Pointe Coupee Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pointe Coupee Parish
- Since Smithland is near West Feliciana Parish and also Avoyelles Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for West Feliciana Parish
- eBird sighting report for Avoyelles 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 Smithland ...
We found nine communities that share the name Smithland.
Within Louisiana, the name Smithland is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithland ...
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.
- Brake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Coon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Eden ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Gordon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Naples ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - New California
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New California have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New California
- New California is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
- Point Breeze
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Breeze have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Breeze
- Point Breeze is located in Concordia Parish
- Randall ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Red River Landing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red River Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red River Landing
- Red River Landing is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
- Retreat
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Woodside
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Yellow Bayou
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yellow Bayou have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Bayou
- Yellow Bayou is located in Avoyelles Parish
How Far From Smithland 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 Smithland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Smithland and extending to:
- New Roads, which is the Seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Smithland to New Roads, 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 6 hours.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 43 miles [69.2 km] to the southeast (SE). 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 993 miles [1,598.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 57 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,879 miles [11,070.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,593 miles [12,219.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,468 miles [8,799.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Smithland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Louisiana: https://www.louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Smithland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smithland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.9112, Longitude: -91.6636 In this case, the coordinates for Smithland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Smithland 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> | 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. |
| <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 Smithland to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.406 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.104 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.708 degrees. |