RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> DeSoto County >> Mineral Wells >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mineral Wells, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mineral Wells 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 Mineral Wells:
    • 34.990649, -89.865644
    • 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 Mineral Wells
  • 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 DeSoto County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DeSoto County
    • Since Mineral Wells is near Shelby County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Mineral Wells

Communities Also Named Mineral Wells ...

We found two communities that are also named Mineral Wells.

Within Mississippi, the name Mineral Wells is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Palo Pinto County
      • This Mineral Wells is located in Palo Pinto County and lies 493 miles [793.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Mineral Wells that is located in DeSoto County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Palo Pinto County community of Mineral Wells.
    • West Virginia
      • Wood County
      • This Mineral Wells is located in Wood County and lies 543 miles [873.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Mineral Wells that is located in DeSoto County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wood County community of Mineral Wells.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mineral Wells ...

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.

  • Bleak ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Bleak is located in Shelby County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleak
  • Booth ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Booth is located in Shelby County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booth
  • Cedarview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cedarview is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarview
  • De Soto Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • De Soto Village is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto Village
  • Fairhaven
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairhaven is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
  • Greenlawn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Greenlawn is located in Shelby County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlawn
  • Handy Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Handy Corner is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handy Corner
  • Irene ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Irene is located in Shelby County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
  • Maywood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Maywood is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maywood
  • Olive Branch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Plum Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Plum Point is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Point

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

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

  • Hernando, which is the Seat of DeSoto County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Mineral Wells to Hernando, with an average speed<3> 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 186 miles [299.3 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 756 miles [1,216.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,604 miles [10,628.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,327 miles [11,791.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,203 miles [8,373.4 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 from Point A (ie- Mineral Wells) 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 Mineral Wells 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 Mineral Wells. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9906, Longitude: -89.8656       In this case, the coordinates for Mineral Wells have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.662 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.786 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.273 degrees.