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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big John, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big John 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 Big John:
    • 26.261461, -98.007226
    • 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 Big John
  • 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 Big John 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 Big John

Communities Also Named Big John ...

We found one communities that are also named Big John.

Within Texas, the name Big John is unique.

Beyond Texas, there is another community also named Big John in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Morris County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Big John [Morris County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big John ...

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.

  • Catherine
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Catherine is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine
    • Catherine has also been known as:
    • Catherine Colonia
  • Delta - Rodger
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Delta - Rodger is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta - Rodger
    • Delta - Rodger has also been known as:
    • Delta - Rodger Colonia
  • Delta Court
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • 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
  • Delta West
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Delta West is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta West
    • Delta West has also been known as:
    • Delta West Colonia
  • Evergreen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Flora
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Flora is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
    • Flora has also been known as:
    • Flora Colonia
  • High Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • 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
  • Imperial
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Imperial is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial
    • Imperial has also been known as:
    • Imperial Colonia
  • Indian Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Isaacs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Isaacs is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isaacs
    • Isaacs has also been known as:
    • Isaacs Colonia
  • Matt
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Matt is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matt
    • Matt has also been known as:
    • Matt Colonia
  • Rebecca
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rebecca is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rebecca
    • Rebecca has also been known as:
    • Rebecca Colonia
  • Sunrise Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunrise Hill is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Hill
    • Sunrise Hill has also been known as:
    • Sunrise Hill Colonia
  • Tower Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tower Heights is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Heights
    • Tower Heights has also been known as:
    • Tower Heights Colonia

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Big John and extending to:

  • Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Big John to Edinburg, with an average speed<3> 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 277 miles [445.8 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 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,493 miles [2,402.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 85 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,375 miles [11,868.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,092 miles [13,022.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,968 miles [9,604.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Big John 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Big John) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Big John 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 Big John. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2615, Longitude: -98.0072       In this case, the coordinates for Big John have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.691 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.361 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.679 degrees.