Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Athens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Athens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Athens
- 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 Athens:
- 32.204355, -95.853717
- 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 Athens
- 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 Henderson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Henderson County
- Since Athens is near Van Zandt County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Van Zandt County
- eBird sighting report for Anderson 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 Athens ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Athens.
Within Texas, the name Athens is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another 28 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 28 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Jewell 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 Athens [Jewell County].
- Woodson County
- This Athens is located in Woodson County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<1> to the north of the Athens that is located in Henderson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodson County community of Athens.
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Ontario
- This Athens lies 1,370 miles [2,204.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Athens that is located in Henderson County.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Athens ...
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.
- Big Rock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Crescent Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crescent Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
- Crescent Heights is located in Henderson County
- Cross Roads
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
- Cross Roads is located in Henderson County
- Leagueville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leagueville
- Leagueville is located in Henderson County
- Log Cabin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Pickens
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Shady Oaks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Oaks
- Shady Oaks is located in Henderson County
- Star Harbor
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Harbor
- Star Harbor is located in Henderson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
- Virginia Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hill
- Virginia Hill is located in Henderson County
How Far From Athens 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 city such as Athens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Athens and extending to:
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 174 miles [280 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Athens to Austin, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,150 miles [1,850.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 66 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,979 miles [11,231.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,709 miles [12,406.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,586 miles [8,989.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Athens. 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Athens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.2044, Longitude: -95.8537 |
| <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 Athens 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> | 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 Athens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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. |
| <6> | 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 Athens to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.242 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.593 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.306 degrees. |