RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> Rankin County >> Cato >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cato, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cato 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 Cato:
    • 32.090226, -89.877812
    • 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 Cato
  • 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 Rankin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rankin County
    • Since Cato is near Simpson County and also Smith County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Simpson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smith 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 Cato

Communities Also Named Cato ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Cato.

Within Mississippi, the name Cato is unique.

Beyond Mississippi, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Faulkner County
      • This Cato is located in Faulkner County and lies 239 miles [384.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Faulkner County community of Cato.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Cato is located in Hillsborough County and lies 540 miles [869 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Cato.
    • Indiana
      • Pike County
      • This Cato is located in Pike County and lies 463 miles [745.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Cato.
    • Kansas
      • Crawford County
      • This Cato is located in Crawford County and lies 473 miles [761.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Cato.
    • Kentucky
      • Harlan 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 Kentucky community of Cato [Harlan County].
    • Michigan
      • Montcalm 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 Michigan community of Cato [Montcalm County].
    • Missouri
      • Barry County
      • This Cato is located in Barry County and lies 386 miles [621.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barry County community of Cato.
      • Ray County
      • Although located in Ray County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ray County community of Cato.
    • New York
      • Cayuga County
      • This Cato is located in Cayuga County and lies 1,053 miles [1,694.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cayuga County community of Cato.
    • Oklahoma
      • Kingfisher County
      • This Cato is located in Kingfisher County and lies 543 miles [873.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kingfisher County community of Cato.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Centre 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 Cato [Centre County].
    • Tennessee
      • Trousdale County
      • This Cato is located in Trousdale County and lies 369 miles [593.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trousdale County community of Cato.
    • Wisconsin
      • Manitowoc County
      • This Cato is located in Manitowoc County and lies 839 miles [1,350.2 km]<1> to the north of the Cato that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Manitowoc County community of Cato.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cato ...

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.

  • Comeby ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Comeby is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comeby
  • Everett
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Everett is located in Simpson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
  • Fink Bine ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Fink Bine is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fink Bine
  • George ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • George is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
  • Gum Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Gum Springs is located in Simpson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Joe ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Joe is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joe
  • Johns
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Johns is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johns
  • Piney Woods
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Piney Woods is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Woods
  • Rock Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Rock Hill is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
  • Rufus
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Rufus is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rufus
  • Shady Dell ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Shady Dell is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Dell

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

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

  • Brandon, which is the Seat of Rankin County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cato to Brandon, with an average speed<3> 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 four to five hours.
  • Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest (NW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 860 miles [1,384 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 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,748 miles [10,859.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,460 miles [12,005.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,336 miles [8,587.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cato) 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 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 Cato 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 county. 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 Cato 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 Cato. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0902, Longitude: -89.8778    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.431 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.127 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.807 degrees.