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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Commons, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Commons 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 The Commons:
    • 32.309868, -90.032028
    • 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 The Commons
  • 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 The Commons is near Hinds County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hinds County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison 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 The Commons

Communities Also Named The Commons ...

We found two communities that are also named The Commons.

Within Mississippi, the name The Commons is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This The Commons is located in Cook County and lies 687 miles [1,105.6 km]<1> to the north of the The Commons that is located in Rankin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of The Commons.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This The Commons lies 1,621 miles [2,608.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Commons that is located in Rankin County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Commons ...

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.

  • Arrowhead Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Arrowhead Point is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead Point
  • Crossgates
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Crossgates is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossgates
  • Forest Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Forest Point is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Point
  • Greenfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Greenfield is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Grove Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Grove Park is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • Harbourview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Harbourview is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbourview
  • Hickory Glen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hickory Glen is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Glen
  • Hunters Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hunters Woods is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Woods
  • Kings Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Kings Heights is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Heights
  • Lakeshore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lakeshore is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeshore
  • Millrun
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Millrun is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millrun
  • Paradise Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Paradise Point is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Point
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Pearl
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pearl is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,560 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearl <2>
    • Skyway Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Skyway Hills is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyway Hills
    • Summerwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Summerwood is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwood
    • Sunrise Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Sunrise Point is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Point
    • Terrapin Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Terrapin Hill is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrapin Hill
    • Timber Lakes
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Timber Lakes is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Lakes
    • Turtle Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Turtle Creek is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turtle Creek
    • Value
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Value is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Value
    • Waterwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Waterwood is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterwood
    • Woodlake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Woodlake is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlake

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

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

  • Brandon, which is the Seat of Rankin County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies just to the west (W).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 858 miles [1,380.8 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from The Commons to White House, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 49 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,743 miles [10,851.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,457 miles [12,000.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,332 miles [8,581 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- The Commons) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 The Commons 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 The Commons. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3099, Longitude: -90.0320       In this case, the coordinates for The Commons have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.547 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.29 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.832 degrees.