Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alba, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alba and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alba
- 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 Alba:
- 32.792934, -95.634469
- 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 Alba
- 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 Wood County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wood County
- Since Alba is near Rains County and also Van Zandt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rains County
- eBird sighting report for Van Zandt 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 Alba ...
We found nine communities that share the name Alba.
Within Texas, the name Alba is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nova Scotia
- This Alba lies 2,037 miles [3,278.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Alba that is located in Wood County.
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alba ...
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.
- Bright Star
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bright Star have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Bright Star is located in Rains County
- Calvary
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Colony
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Ginger
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Golden
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden
- Golden is located in Wood County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Golden <5>
- Grand Saline
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Saline
- Grand Saline is located in Van Zandt County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,214 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Saline <5>
- Hogansville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hogansville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogansville
- Hogansville is located in Rains County
- Rocky Point Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Point Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point Center
- Rocky Point Center is located in Rains County
- Shotgun Crossing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shotgun Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shotgun Crossing
- Shotgun Crossing is located in Rains County
- Silver Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in Van Zandt County
- Willow Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
- Willow Springs is located in Rains County
How Far From Alba 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 town such as Alba to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alba and extending to:
- Quitman, which is the Seat of Wood County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Alba to Quitman, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 214 miles [344.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,120 miles [1,802.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,940 miles [11,168.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- 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).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,548 miles [8,928.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alba. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Alba) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alba. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.7929, Longitude: -95.6345 |
| <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 Alba, 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 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 Alba 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 Alba 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 319.171 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.585 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.14 degrees. |