Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Aiken, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Aiken and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Aiken
- 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 Aiken:
- 31.689900, -94.332147
- 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 Aiken
- 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Since Aiken is near San Augustine County and also Nacogdoches County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for San Augustine County
- eBird sighting report for Nacogdoches 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 Aiken ...
We found ten communities that share the name Aiken.
There are two communities within Texas that are also named Aiken.
Beyond Texas, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- Bell County
- Floyd County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Mississippi
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Aiken ...
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.
- Africa ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Brady
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Cedar Point
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Point have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Point
- Cedar Point is located in Nacogdoches County
- Center
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center
- Center is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,043 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center <6>
- Choice
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choice
- Choice is located in Shelby County
- Harmony
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Martinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
- Martinsville is located in Nacogdoches County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Martinsville <6>
- Shady Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Nacogdoches County
- Short
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Swift
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Whispering Pines
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
- Whispering Pines is located in Nacogdoches County
How Far From Aiken to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Aiken to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Aiken and extending to:
- Center, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Aiken to Center, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 224 miles [360.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,091 miles [1,755.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 43 days and walking would take 62 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,947 miles [11,180.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,671 miles [12,345.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,546 miles [8,925.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Aiken. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Aiken, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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- Aiken) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Aiken. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6899, Longitude: -94.3321 In this case, the coordinates for Aiken have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Aiken 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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Aiken to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.186 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.288 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.711 degrees. |