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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bellaire, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bellaire and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Bellaire:
    • 26.128409, -98.009171
    • 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 Bellaire
  • 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
    • Since Bellaire is near Cameron County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 Bellaire

Communities Also Named Bellaire ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Bellaire.

There is one other community in Texas that is also named Bellaire.

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

  • Communities Located In Texas ...
    • Harris County
      • This Bellaire is located in Harris County and lies 291 miles [468.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Bellaire.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Chicot County
      • This Bellaire is located in Chicot County and lies 646 miles [1,039.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chicot County community of Bellaire.
    • California
      • Contra Costa 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 California community of Bellaire [Contra Costa County].
    • Kansas
      • Sedgwick County
      • This Bellaire is located in Sedgwick County and lies 804 miles [1,293.9 km]<1> to the north of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sedgwick County community of Bellaire.
      • Smith County
      • This Bellaire is located in Smith County and lies 944 miles [1,519.2 km] to the north of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Bellaire.
    • Louisiana
      • Bossier Parish
      • This Bellaire is located in Bossier Parish and lies 510 miles [820.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bossier Parish community of Bellaire.
    • Michigan
      • Antrim County
      • This Bellaire is located in Antrim County and lies 1,482 miles [2,385 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Antrim County community of Bellaire.
      • Baraga 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 Michigan community of Bellaire [Baraga County].
    • Minnesota
      • Ramsey County
      • This Bellaire is located in Ramsey County and lies 1,337 miles [2,151.7 km]<1> to the north of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ramsey County community of Bellaire.
    • New York
      • Queens County
      • This Bellaire is located in Queens County and lies 1,713 miles [2,756.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Queens County community of Bellaire.
    • Ohio
      • Belmont County
      • This Bellaire is located in Belmont County and lies 1,379 miles [2,219.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of Bellaire.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster County
      • This Bellaire is located in Lancaster County and lies 1,566 miles [2,520.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Bellaire that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Bellaire.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bellaire ...

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.

  • Citrus Retreat
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Citrus Retreat is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus Retreat
    • Citrus Retreat has also been known as:
    • Citrus Retreat Colonia
  • Clark
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clark is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
    • Clark has also been known as:
    • Clark Colonia
  • Delta Court
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Delta Court is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta Court
    • Delta Court has also been known as:
    • Delta Court Colonia
  • Flora
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Flora is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
    • Flora has also been known as:
    • Flora Colonia
  • High Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • High Point is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • High Point has also been known as:
    • High Point Colonia
  • Lunar Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lunar Heights is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunar Heights
    • Lunar Heights has also been known as:
    • Lunar Heights Colonia
  • Lyons
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lyons is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
    • Lyons has also been known as:
    • Lyons Colonia
  • Rosedale Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Rosedale Heights is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Heights
    • Rosedale Heights has also been known as:
    • Rosedale Heights Colonia
  • Scissors
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Scissors is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scissors
  • Sun Grove Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sun Grove Park is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Grove Park
    • Sun Grove Park has also been known as:
    • Sun Grove Park Colonia

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

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

  • Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bellaire to Edinburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 286 miles [460.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,500 miles [2,414 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 86 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,382 miles [11,880.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,099 miles [13,034.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,974 miles [9,614.2 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- Bellaire) 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 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 Bellaire 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 Bellaire 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 Bellaire. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.1284, Longitude: -98.0092       In this case, the coordinates for Bellaire have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.666 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.315 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.685 degrees.