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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Colby, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Colby 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 Colby:
    • 32.878463, -90.685930
    • 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 Colby
  • 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 Yazoo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yazoo County
    • Since Colby is near Humphreys County and also Sharkey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Humphreys County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sharkey 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 Colby

Communities Also Named Colby ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Colby.

Within Mississippi, the name Colby is unique.

Beyond Mississippi, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Delta County
      • This Colby is located in Delta County and lies 1,051 miles [1,691.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delta County community of Colby.
    • Idaho
      • Bonner 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 Idaho community of Colby [Bonner County].
    • Kansas
      • Thomas County
      • This Colby is located in Thomas County and lies 731 miles [1,176.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thomas County community of Colby.
    • Kentucky
      • Clark County
      • This Colby is located in Clark County and lies 505 miles [812.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Colby.
    • Maine
      • Aroostook County
      • This Colby is located in Aroostook County and lies 1,528 miles [2,459.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aroostook County community of Colby.
    • Manitoba
      • This Colby lies 1,286 miles [2,069.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Colby that is located in Yazoo 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 Colby [Montcalm County].
    • Minnesota
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Colby is located in Saint Louis County and lies 1,015 miles [1,633.5 km]<1> to the north of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Colby.
    • New Hampshire
      • Merrimack County
      • This Colby is located in Merrimack County and lies 1,245 miles [2,003.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Merrimack County community of Colby.
    • Ohio
      • Sandusky County
      • This Colby is located in Sandusky County and lies 718 miles [1,155.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sandusky County community of Colby.
    • Tennessee
      • Sullivan County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Colby [Sullivan County].
    • Washington
      • Kitsap County
      • This Colby is located in Kitsap County and lies 1,941 miles [3,123.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kitsap County community of Colby.
    • Wisconsin
      • Clark County
      • This Colby is located in Clark County and lies 831 miles [1,337.4 km]<1> to the north of the Colby that is located in Yazoo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Colby.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Colby ...

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.

  • Anchorage
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Anchorage is located in Humphreys County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorage
  • Big Eddy Landing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Eddy Landing is located in Sharkey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Eddy Landing
  • Chapel Landing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Chapel Landing is located in Sharkey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Landing
  • Choctaw Landing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Choctaw Landing is located in Sharkey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw Landing
  • Craig
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Craig is located in Humphreys County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
  • George
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • George is located in Yazoo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
  • Holland Landing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Holland Landing is located in Sharkey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland Landing
  • Hollands ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hollands is located in Sharkey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollands
  • Holly Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Holly Bluff is located in Yazoo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Bluff
  • Horn Place Landing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Horn Place Landing is located in Yazoo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn Place Landing
  • Sleepy Hollow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sleepy Hollow is located in Humphreys County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
  • Spanish Fort
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Spanish Fort is located in Sharkey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Fort
  • White House Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • White House Landing is located in Sharkey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Landing

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

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

  • Yazoo City, which is the Seat of Yazoo County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Colby to Yazoo City, 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.
  • Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 49 miles [78.9 km] to the southeast (SE). 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 868 miles [1,396.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,742 miles [10,850.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,459 miles [12,004.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,335 miles [8,585.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Colby) 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 Colby 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>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 Colby, 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 Colby 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 Colby. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8785, Longitude: -90.6859       In this case, the coordinates for Colby have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.005 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.90 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.005 degrees.