RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Hidalgo County >> Adkins >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Adkins, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Adkins 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 Adkins:
    • 26.197296, -98.120286
    • 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 Adkins
  • 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
    • Since Adkins is near Cameron County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 Adkins

Communities Also Named Adkins ...

We found four communities that are also named Adkins.

There is one other community in Texas that is also named Adkins.

Beyond Texas, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Texas ...
    • Bexar County
      • This Adkins is located in Bexar County and lies 220 miles [354.1 km]<1> to the north of the Adkins that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of Adkins.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Crisp 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 Adkins [Crisp County].
    • Louisiana
      • Claiborne Parish
      • 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 Louisiana community of Adkins [Claiborne Parish].
    • Washington
      • Walla Walla County
      • This Adkins is located in Walla Walla County and lies 1,786 miles [2,874.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Adkins that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walla Walla County community of Adkins.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Adkins ...

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.

  • Border
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Border is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border
    • Border has also been known as:
    • Border Colonia
  • Borderland Retreat
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Borderland Retreat is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borderland Retreat
    • Borderland Retreat has also been known as:
    • Borderland Retreat Colonia
  • Clark
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Clark is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
    • Clark has also been known as:
    • Clark Colonia
  • Delta Court
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Delta Court is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta Court
    • Delta Court has also been known as:
    • Delta Court Colonia
  • Flora
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Flora is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
    • Flora has also been known as:
    • Flora Colonia
  • High Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • High Point is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • High Point has also been known as:
    • High Point Colonia
  • Isaacs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Isaacs is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isaacs
    • Isaacs has also been known as:
    • Isaacs Colonia
  • Lunar Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lunar Heights is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunar Heights
    • Lunar Heights has also been known as:
    • Lunar Heights Colonia
  • Paradise Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Paradise Park is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
    • Paradise Park has also been known as:
    • Paradise Park Colonia
  • Red Barn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Barn is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Barn
    • Red Barn has also been known as:
    • Red Barn Colonia
  • Rosedale Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rosedale Heights is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Heights
    • Rosedale Heights has also been known as:
    • Rosedale Heights Colonia
  • Scissors
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Scissors is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scissors
  • Sun Grove Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sun Grove Park is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Grove Park
    • Sun Grove Park has also been known as:
    • Sun Grove Park Colonia

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

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

  • Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 281 miles [452.2 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Adkins to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,502 miles [2,417.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 86 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,383 miles [11,881.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,101 miles [13,037.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,976 miles [9,617.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Adkins) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Adkins 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>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 Adkins 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 Adkins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.1973, Longitude: -98.1203       In this case, the coordinates for Adkins have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.751 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.425 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.727 degrees.