RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Huron County >> Port Austin >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Port Austin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Port Austin 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 Port Austin:
    • 44.046283, -82.993655
    • 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 Port Austin
  • 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 county-by-county basis. We have selected Huron County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Huron County
    • Since Port Austin is near Sanilac County and also Arenac County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sanilac County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arenac County
  • 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 Port Austin

Communities Also Named Port Austin ...

We found one communities that are also named Port Austin.

Within Michigan, the name Port Austin is unique.

Beyond Michigan, there is another community also named Port Austin in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Matagorda County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Matagorda County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Matagorda County community of Port Austin.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Port Austin ...

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.

How Far From Port Austin 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 village such as Port Austin to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Port Austin and extending to:

  • Bad Axe, which is the Seat of Huron County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<3> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Port Austin to Bad Axe, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 119 miles [191.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 470 miles [756.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,909 miles [9,509.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,645 miles [10,694.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,527 miles [7,285.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Port Austin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Port Austin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Port Austin 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 Port Austin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0463, Longitude: -82.9937    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.303 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.095 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.534 degrees.