Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Touchstone, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Touchstone and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Touchstone
- 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 Touchstone:
- 31.998488, -90.034527
- 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 Touchstone
- 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 Simpson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Simpson County
- Since Touchstone is near Rankin County and also Copiah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rankin County
- eBird sighting report for Copiah 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Touchstone ...
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.
- Bush
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Comeby ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Dane ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - George ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Gum Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gum Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
- Gum Springs is located in Simpson County
- King
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Merit
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Mountain Creek ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Creek
- Mountain Creek is located in Rankin County
- Pearl
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Piney Woods
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piney Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Woods
- Piney Woods is located in Rankin County
- Star
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Union
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
How Far From Touchstone 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 Touchstone to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Touchstone and extending to:
- Mendenhall, which is the Seat of Simpson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Touchstone to Mendenhall, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 22 miles [35.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 871 miles [1,401.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,759 miles [10,877.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,471 miles [12,023.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,347 miles [8,605.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Touchstone. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Touchstone) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Touchstone. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9985, Longitude: -90.0345 In this case, the coordinates for Touchstone have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Touchstone to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.518 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.216 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.885 degrees. |