RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Mexico >> Mora County >> Nolan >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Nolan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Nolan 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 Nolan:
    • 36.166146, -104.670546
    • 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 Nolan
  • 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 Mora County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mora County
    • Since Nolan is near Colfax County and also Harding County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harding 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 Nolan

Communities Also Named Nolan ...

We found ten communities that are also named Nolan.

Within New Mexico, the name Nolan is unique.

Beyond New Mexico, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Nolan lies 2,788 miles [4,486.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Nolan that is located in Mora County.
    • Georgia
      • Morgan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Nolan [Morgan County].
    • Kansas
      • Marshall County
      • This Nolan is located in Marshall County and lies 513 miles [825.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Nolan that is located in Mora County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Nolan.
    • Michigan
      • Roscommon County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Nolan [Roscommon County].
    • Nevada
      • Mineral County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Mineral County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mineral County community of Nolan.
    • North Dakota
      • Cass County
      • This Nolan is located in Cass County and lies 840 miles [1,351.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Nolan that is located in Mora County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Nolan.
    • Texas
      • Nolan County
      • This Nolan is located in Nolan County and lies 368 miles [592.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Nolan that is located in Mora County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nolan County community of Nolan.
    • Utah
      • Emery County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Nolan [Emery County].
    • West Virginia
      • Logan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Nolan [Logan County].
      • Mingo County
      • This Nolan is located in Mingo County and lies 1,234 miles [1,985.9 km]<1> to the east of the Nolan that is located in Mora County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mingo County community of Nolan.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Nolan ...

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.

  • Cherry Valley ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Cherry Valley is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Valley
  • French
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • French is located in Colfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French
  • Halls Peak ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Halls Peak is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Peak
  • Maxwell
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Shoemaker
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Shoemaker is located in Mora County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoemaker
  • Springer
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Sunny Side
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunny Side is located in Colfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
  • Sweetwater ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sweetwater is located in Colfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
  • Wagon Mound
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)

How Far From Nolan 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 Nolan 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 Nolan once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Nolan and extending to:

  • Mora, which is the Seat of Mora County, lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Nolan to Mora, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 79 miles [127.1 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,519 miles [2,444.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 87 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,068 miles [11,374.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,826 miles [12,594.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,737 miles [9,232.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 from Point A (ie- Nolan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Nolan 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.
<3>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 Nolan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Nolan 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 Nolan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1661, Longitude: -104.6705       In this case, the coordinates for Nolan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.909 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 323.926 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.144 degrees.