Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bay City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bay City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bay City
- 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 Bay City:
- 28.981264, -95.960358
- 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 Bay City
- 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 Matagorda County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Matagorda County
- Since Bay City is near Brazoria County and also Wharton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brazoria County
- eBird sighting report for Wharton 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 Bay City ...
We found ten communities that share the name Bay City.
Within Texas, the name Bay City is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Florida
- Franklin County
- This Bay City is located in Franklin County and lies 660 miles [1,062.2 km]<2> to the east of the Bay City that is located in Matagorda County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Bay City.
- Hernando County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Bay City [Hernando County].
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bay City ...
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.
- Blessing
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blessing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blessing
- Blessing is located in Matagorda County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blessing <5>
- Buckeye
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Citrus Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Citrus Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus Grove
- Citrus Grove is located in Matagorda County
- Gulf ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - Gulf Hill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - Lane City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane City
- Lane City is located in Wharton County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane City <5>
- Magnet
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Pledger
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pledger have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pledger
- Pledger is located in Matagorda County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pledger <5>
- Sugar Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Valley
- Sugar Valley is located in Matagorda County
- Tin Top
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Bay City to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Bay City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bay City and extending to:
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Bay City to Austin, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,278 miles [2,056.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,151 miles [11,508.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,871 miles [12,667.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,746 miles [9,247.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Bay City: www.cityofbaycity.org/
The official website for Matagorda County: www.co.matagorda.tx.us/
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 Bay City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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- Bay City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bay City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.9813, Longitude: -95.9604 In this case, the coordinates for Bay City 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Bay City 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 Bay City 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 318.85 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.718 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.672 degrees. |