RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alfalfa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alfalfa 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 Alfalfa:
    • 31.755387, -106.381651
    • 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 Alfalfa
  • 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 El Paso County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for El Paso County
    • Since Alfalfa is near Dona Ana County and also Otero County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dona Ana County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Otero 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 Alfalfa

Communities Also Named Alfalfa ...

We found seven communities that are also named Alfalfa.

Within Texas, the name Alfalfa is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Marengo County
      • This Alfalfa is located in Marengo County and lies 1,088 miles [1,751 km]<1> to the east of the Alfalfa that is located in El Paso County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marengo County community of Alfalfa.
    • Kansas
      • Finney 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 Kansas community of Alfalfa [Finney County].
      • Norton County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alfalfa [Norton County].
    • Louisiana
      • Rapides Parish
      • This Alfalfa is located in Rapides Parish and lies 809 miles [1,302 km]<1> to the east of the Alfalfa that is located in El Paso County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rapides Parish community of Alfalfa.
    • Oklahoma
      • Caddo County
      • This Alfalfa is located in Caddo County and lies 507 miles [815.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alfalfa that is located in El Paso County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caddo County community of Alfalfa.
    • Oregon
      • Deschutes County
      • This Alfalfa is located in Deschutes County and lies 1,162 miles [1,870.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Alfalfa that is located in El Paso County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Deschutes County community of Alfalfa.
    • Washington
      • Yakima County
      • This Alfalfa is located in Yakima County and lies 1,247 miles [2,006.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Alfalfa that is located in El Paso County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yakima County community of Alfalfa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alfalfa ...

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.

  • Ellen Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ellen Park is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellen Park
    • Ellen Park has also been known as:
    • Ellen Park Colonia
  • Fort Bliss
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Fort Bliss is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Bliss
  • Lewis
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lewis is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
    • Lewis has also been known as:
    • Lewis Colonia
  • Mission Hills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Mission Hills is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
  • Mountain View
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Mountain View is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Planeport
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Planeport is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Planeport
  • Roseville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Roseville is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
    • Roseville has also been known as:
    • Roseville Colonia
  • Smelter Town
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Smelter Town is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smelter Town
  • Sparks
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sparks is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks
  • Sunshine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunshine is located in El Paso County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
    • Sunshine has also been known as:
    • Sunshine Colonia

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

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

  • El Paso, which is the Seat of El Paso County, lies just to the West.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 521 miles [838.5 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Alfalfa to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 30 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 21 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,716 miles [2,761.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 67 days and walking would take 98 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,376 miles [11,870.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,130 miles [13,084 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,031 miles [9,706 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alfalfa) 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 Alfalfa 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 Alfalfa 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 Alfalfa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.7554, Longitude: -106.3817       In this case, the coordinates for Alfalfa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.534 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.194 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.254 degrees.