Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sonora, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sonora and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sonora
- 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 Sonora:
- 33.845114, -88.999227
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Sonora
- 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 Chickasaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Chickasaw County
- Since Sonora is near Webster County and also Clay County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Webster County
- eBird sighting report for Clay 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Sonora ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Sonora.
Within Mississippi, the name Sonora is unique.
Beyond Mississippi, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seventeen communities, sixteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Maricopa County
- This Sonora is located in Maricopa County and lies 1,308 miles [2,105 km]<1> to the west of the Sonora that is located in Chickasaw County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Sonora.
- Pinal County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arizona community of Sonora [Pinal County].
- Arkansas
- California
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Harper County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sonora [Harper County].
- Lyon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sonora [Lyon County].
- Nemaha County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sonora [Nemaha County].
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- New York
- North Dakota
- Nova Scotia
- This Sonora lies 1,628 miles [2,620 km]<1> to the northeast of the Sonora that is located in Chickasaw County.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Arizona
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sonora ...
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.
- Anchor
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Bacon ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Cairo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Congress ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Dancy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Hall
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Hickory Flat ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Flat have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Flat
- Hickory Flat is located in Chickasaw County
- Jolly
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Palestine
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Pikeville ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - Prospect ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Ridge ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Thorn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Walkers Gin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walkers Gin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkers Gin
- Walkers Gin is located in Clay County
How Far From Sonora 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 Sonora to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sonora and extending to:
- Houston, which is the Seat of Chickasaw County, lies just to the North.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 126 miles [202.8 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Sonora to Jackson, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 750 miles [1,207 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,626 miles [10,663.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,342 miles [11,815.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,218 miles [8,397.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sonora. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sonora) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sonora. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8451, Longitude: -88.9992 In this case, the coordinates for Sonora have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Sonora, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Sonora 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. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Sonora to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.038 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.908 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.129 degrees. |