Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Houston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Houston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Houston
- 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 Houston:
- 35.675695, -80.722847
- 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 Houston
- 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 Rowan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rowan County
- Since Houston is near Iredell County and also Cabarrus County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Iredell County
- eBird sighting report for Cabarrus 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 Houston ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Houston.
There is one other community in North Carolina which is also named Houston.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another 27 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 27 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In North Carolina ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Alaska
- This Houston lies 3,410 miles [5,487.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Houston that is located in Rowan County.
- Arkansas
- British Columbia
- This Houston lies 2,525 miles [4,063.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Houston that is located in Rowan County.
- California
- Shasta 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 California community of Houston [Shasta County].
- Siskiyou County
- This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Houston [Siskiyou County].
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Kent County
- This Houston is located in Kent County and lies 363 miles [584.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Houston that is located in Rowan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kent County community of Houston.
- Sussex County
- This Houston is located in Sussex County and lies 370 miles [595.5 km] to the northeast of the Houston that is located in Rowan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sussex County community of Houston.
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Chickasaw County
- This Houston is located in Chickasaw County and lies 485 miles [780.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Houston that is located in Rowan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chickasaw County community of Houston.
- Lauderdale County
- This Houston is located in Lauderdale County and lies 508 miles [817.5 km] to the west southwest of the Houston that is located in Rowan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lauderdale County community of Houston.
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Houston ...
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.
- Barber
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber
- Barber is located in Rowan County
- Bear Poplar
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Poplar have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Poplar
- Bear Poplar is located in Rowan County
- China Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Grove
- China Grove is located in Rowan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,249 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for China Grove <5>
- Five Forks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Rowan County
- Five Points
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Rowan County
- Glenn Echo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenn Echo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Echo
- Glenn Echo is located in Iredell County
- Green Acres
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Green Acres is located in Iredell County
- Harts ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Needmore
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Ourdell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Shepherds
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Troutman
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Troutman have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troutman
- Troutman is located in Iredell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,817 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troutman <5>
- Unity ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Woodleaf
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf
- Woodleaf is located in Rowan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodleaf <5>
How Far From Houston 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 Houston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Houston once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Houston and extending to:
- Salisbury, which is the Seat of Rowan County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Houston to Salisbury, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 116 miles [186.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 300 miles [482.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,195 miles [9,969.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,895 miles [11,096.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,774 miles [7,683 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Rowan County: www.co.rowan.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Houston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Houston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6757, Longitude: -80.7228 In this case, the coordinates for Houston 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 Houston, 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 Houston 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Houston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.152 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.538 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.322 degrees. |