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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Southdown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southdown 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 Southdown:
    • 29.586881, -90.738980
    • 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 Southdown
  • 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 Terrebonne Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Terrebonne Parish
    • Since Southdown is near Lafourche Parish and also Assumption Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lafourche Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Assumption 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 Southdown

Communities Also Named Southdown ...

We found three communities that are also named Southdown.

There is one other community in Louisiana that is also named Southdown.

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

  • Communities Located In Louisiana ...
    • East Baton Rouge Parish
      • This Southdown is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Southdown that is located in Terrebonne Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the East Baton Rouge Parish community of Southdown.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Letcher County
      • This Southdown is located in Letcher County and lies 694 miles [1,116.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Southdown that is located in Terrebonne Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Letcher County community of Southdown.
    • Texas
      • Brazoria County
      • This Southdown is located in Brazoria County and lies 277 miles [445.8 km]<1> to the west of the Southdown that is located in Terrebonne Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brazoria County community of Southdown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Southdown ...

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.

  • Argyle
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Argyle is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
  • Central
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Central is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
  • Crescent
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Crescent is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
  • Cypress Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cypress Gardens is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Gardens
  • Ellendale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ellendale is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
  • Idlewild
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Idlewild is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewild
  • Mechanicville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mechanicville is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicville
  • Mulberry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Mulberry is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
  • Sunshine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Sunshine is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
  • Waterproof
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Waterproof is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterproof
  • Woodlawn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodlawn is located in Terrebonne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

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

  • Houma, which is the Seat of Terrebonne Parish, lies just to the East.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 64 miles [103 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Southdown to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,010 miles [1,625.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,907 miles [11,115.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,612 miles [12,250.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,490 miles [8,835.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Southdown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Southdown 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 Southdown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.5869, Longitude: -90.7390       In this case, the coordinates for Southdown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.681 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.082 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.527 degrees.