Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Van Buren, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Buren and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Van Buren
- 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 Van Buren:
- 30.435748, -90.672038
- 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 Van Buren
- 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 Livingston Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Livingston Parish
- Since Van Buren is near Tangipahoa Parish and also Ascension Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tangipahoa Parish
- eBird sighting report for Ascension 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 Van Buren ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Van Buren.
Within Louisiana, the name Van Buren is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Jackson County
- This Van Buren is located in Jackson County and lies 804 miles [1,293.9 km]<1> to the north of the Van Buren that is located in Livingston Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Van Buren.
- Lee County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Lee County, we don't know where within the parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Van Buren.
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Carter County
- This Van Buren is located in Carter County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<1> to the north of the Van Buren that is located in Livingston Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carter County community of Van Buren.
- Osage County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Osage County, we don't know where within the parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Osage County community of Van Buren.
- New York
- Chautauqua County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Van Buren [Chautauqua County].
- Onondaga County
- This Van Buren is located in Onondaga County and lies 1,178 miles [1,895.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Van Buren that is located in Livingston Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Van Buren.
- Ohio
- Hancock County
- This Van Buren is located in Hancock County and lies 836 miles [1,345.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Van Buren that is located in Livingston Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Van Buren.
- Licking County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Van Buren [Licking County].
- Pennsylvania
- Armstrong County
- This Van Buren is located in Armstrong County and lies 956 miles [1,538.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Van Buren that is located in Livingston Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of Van Buren.
- Washington County
- This Van Buren is located in Washington County and lies 885 miles [1,424.3 km] to the northeast of the Van Buren that is located in Livingston Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Van Buren.
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Buren ...
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.
- Baptist
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist
- Baptist is located in Tangipahoa Parish
- Catfish Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catfish Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish Landing
- Catfish Landing is located in Livingston Parish
- Frost
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Gamble Spur
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gamble Spur have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gamble Spur
- Gamble Spur is located in Tangipahoa Parish
- Horse Bluff Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horse Bluff Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Bluff Landing
- Horse Bluff Landing is located in Livingston Parish
- Hungarian Settlement
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hungarian Settlement have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hungarian Settlement
- Hungarian Settlement is located in Livingston Parish
- Magnolia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Magnolia Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magnolia Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Landing
- Magnolia Landing is located in Livingston Parish
- Neal Landing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neal Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neal Landing
- Neal Landing is located in Livingston Parish
- Pumpkin Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Pumpkin Center is located in Tangipahoa Parish
- Romes Ferry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Romes Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romes Ferry
- Romes Ferry is located in Livingston Parish
- Tiger Bluff Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tiger Bluff Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiger Bluff Landing
- Tiger Bluff Landing is located in Livingston Parish
- Union Landing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Landing
- Union Landing is located in Livingston Parish
How Far From Van Buren 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 Van Buren 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 community of Van Buren once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Van Buren and extending to:
- Livingston, which is the Seat of Livingston Parish, lies just to the Northwest.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Van Buren to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<5> 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 just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 968 miles [1,557.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,862 miles [11,043.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,571 miles [12,184.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,447 miles [8,766.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Louisiana: 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Van Buren) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Buren. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4357, Longitude: -90.6720 In this case, the coordinates for Van Buren have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Van Buren, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Van Buren 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Van Buren to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.742 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.266 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.382 degrees. |