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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Darbun, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Darbun 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 Darbun:
    • 31.276287, -90.047031
    • 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 Darbun
  • 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Since Darbun is near Walthall County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walthall County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Darbun

Curious and Interesting Names Near Darbun ...

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.

  • Bridges
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bridges is located in Walthall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridges
  • China Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • China Grove is located in Walthall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Grove
  • Emmanuel
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Emmanuel is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmanuel
  • Expose
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Expose is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Expose
  • Harmony
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Harmony is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Holly Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Holly Springs is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • Jamestown
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jamestown is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
  • Lightville ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lightville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lightville
  • Lovelace
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Lovelace is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelace
  • Pricedale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Pricedale is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pricedale
  • Rushing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rushing is located in Walthall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushing
  • Society Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Society Hill is located in Jefferson Davis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Society Hill

How Far From Darbun to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Darbun to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Darbun and extending to:

  • Columbia, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Darbun to Columbia, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 71 miles [114.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 902 miles [1,451.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,795 miles [10,935.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,505 miles [12,078.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,381 miles [8,659.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Darbun) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Darbun 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 Darbun. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.2763, Longitude: -90.0470       In this case, the coordinates for Darbun have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.453 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.043 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.007 degrees.