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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alvord, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alvord 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 Alvord:
    • 33.358270, -97.694958
    • 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 Alvord
  • 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 Wise County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
    • Since Alvord is near Montague County and also Cooke County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montague County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cooke 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 Alvord

Communities Also Named Alvord ...

We found three communities that are also named Alvord.

Within Texas, the name Alvord is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Lyon County
      • This Alvord is located in Lyon County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<1> to the north of the Alvord that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyon County community of Alvord.
    • Missouri
      • Mercer County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Alvord [Mercer County].
    • West Virginia
      • Roane County
      • This Alvord is located in Roane County and lies 984 miles [1,583.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alvord that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roane County community of Alvord.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alvord ...

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.

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

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

  • Decatur, which is the Seat of Wise County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alvord to Decatur, with an average speed<4> 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 213 miles [342.8 km] to the south (S). 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 1,210 miles [1,947.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 69 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,987 miles [11,244.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,725 miles [12,432.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,606 miles [9,022 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alvord) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Alvord, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Alvord 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 Alvord. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3583, Longitude: -97.6950    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.618 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.355 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.003 degrees.