RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Pointe Coupee Parish >> Smithland >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

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 ...
  • 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.
    • Open 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:
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for West Feliciana Parish
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Smithland

Communities Also Named Smithland ...

We found nine communities that are also named Smithland.

Within Louisiana, the name Smithland is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Columbia County
      • This Smithland is located in Columbia County and lies 189 miles [304.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Smithland that is located in Pointe Coupee Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Smithland.
    • Indiana
      • Shelby County
      • This Smithland is located in Shelby County and lies 675 miles [1,086.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Smithland that is located in Pointe Coupee Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Smithland.
    • Iowa
      • Woodbury County
      • This Smithland is located in Woodbury County and lies 816 miles [1,313.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Smithland that is located in Pointe Coupee Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodbury County community of Smithland.
    • Kansas
      • Bourbon County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Smithland [Bourbon County].
    • Kentucky
      • Livingston County
      • This Smithland is located in Livingston County and lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Smithland that is located in Pointe Coupee Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Smithland.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Smithland is located in Clarion County and lies 976 miles [1,570.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithland that is located in Pointe Coupee Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Smithland.
    • Tennessee
      • Lincoln County
      • This Smithland is located in Lincoln County and lies 421 miles [677.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithland that is located in Pointe Coupee Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Smithland.
    • Texas
      • Marion County
      • This Smithland is located in Marion County and lies 197 miles [317 km]<1> to the northwest of the Smithland that is located in Pointe Coupee Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Smithland.
    • Virginia
      • Albemarle County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Smithland [Albemarle County].

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)
    • Brake is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brake
  • Coon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Coon is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon
  • Eden ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Eden is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Gordon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gordon is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
  • Naples ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Naples is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
  • New California
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • New California is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New California
  • Point Breeze
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Point Breeze is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Breeze
  • Randall ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Randall is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall
  • Red River Landing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Red River Landing is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red River Landing
  • Retreat
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Retreat is located in West Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retreat
  • Woodside
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodside is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
  • Yellow Bayou
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Yellow Bayou is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Bayou

How Far From Smithland to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers 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<3> 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<4> 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).<5>
  • 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).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,468 miles [8,799.9 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- Smithland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 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>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 Smithland 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 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).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.406 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.104 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.708 degrees.