RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Saint Landry Parish >> Somers >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Somers, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Somers 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 Somers:
    • 30.802131, -91.808172
    • 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 Somers
  • 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 Saint Landry Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Landry Parish
    • Since Somers is near Pointe Coupee Parish and also Avoyelles Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pointe Coupee 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 Somers

Communities Also Named Somers ...

We found eight communities that are also named Somers.

Within Louisiana, the name Somers is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Tolland County
      • This Somers is located in Tolland County and lies 1,319 miles [2,122.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Somers that is located in Saint Landry Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tolland County community of Somers.
    • Iowa
      • Calhoun County
      • This Somers is located in Calhoun County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<1> to the north of the Somers that is located in Saint Landry Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Somers.
    • Massachusetts
      • Hampden 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 Massachusetts community of Somers [Hampden County].
    • Montana
      • Flathead County
      • This Somers is located in Flathead County and lies 1,676 miles [2,697.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Somers that is located in Saint Landry Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Flathead County community of Somers.
    • New York
      • Westchester County
      • This Somers is located in Westchester County and lies 1,241 miles [1,997.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Somers that is located in Saint Landry Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westchester County community of Somers.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland 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 Pennsylvania community of Somers [Westmoreland County].
    • Virginia
      • Lancaster County
      • This Somers is located in Lancaster County and lies 992 miles [1,596.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Somers that is located in Saint Landry Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Somers.
    • Wisconsin
      • Kenosha County
      • This Somers is located in Kenosha County and lies 845 miles [1,359.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Somers that is located in Saint Landry Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kenosha County community of Somers.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Somers ...

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.

  • Bat
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Bat is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bat
  • Coon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Coon is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon
  • Elba
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Elba is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elba
  • Goodwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Goodwood is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwood
  • Gordon
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Gordon is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
  • New California
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • New California is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New California
  • Randall ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Randall is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall
  • Taterville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Taterville is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taterville
  • Woodside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Woodside is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside

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

  • Opelousas, which is the Seat of Saint Landry Parish, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Somers to Opelousas, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days 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 45 miles [72.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,004 miles [1,615.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 57 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,891 miles [11,090 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,604 miles [12,237.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,480 miles [8,819.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Somers) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Somers 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>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 Somers, 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 Somers 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 Somers. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.8021, Longitude: -91.8082       In this case, the coordinates for Somers have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.483 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.18 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.782 degrees.