RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Houston County >> Bluff City >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bluff City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bluff City 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 Bluff City:
    • 31.540734, -95.144384
    • 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 Bluff 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 Houston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Houston County
    • Since Bluff City is near Cherokee County and also Angelina County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Angelina 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 Bluff City

Communities Also Named Bluff City ...

We found ten communities that are also named Bluff City.

Within Texas, the name Bluff City is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Morgan County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Bluff City [Morgan County].
    • Arkansas
      • Nevada County
      • This Bluff City is located in Nevada County and lies 190 miles [305.8 km]<2> to the northeast of the Bluff City that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nevada County community of Bluff City.
    • Illinois
      • Fayette County
      • This Bluff City is located in Fayette County and lies 616 miles [991.4 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Bluff City that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Bluff City.
      • Schuyler County
      • This Bluff City is located in Schuyler County and lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km] to the north northeast of the Bluff City that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schuyler County community of Bluff City.
    • Kansas
      • Harper County
      • This Bluff City is located in Harper County and lies 412 miles [663 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Bluff City that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harper County community of Bluff City.
      • Sumner 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 Kansas community of Bluff City [Sumner County].
    • Kentucky
      • Henderson County
      • This Bluff City is located in Henderson County and lies 617 miles [993 km]<2> to the northeast of the Bluff City that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Bluff City.
    • Nebraska
      • Gage County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Gage County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gage County community of Bluff City.
    • Tennessee
      • Sullivan County
      • This Bluff City is located in Sullivan County and lies 810 miles [1,303.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Bluff City that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Bluff City.
    • Virginia
      • Giles County
      • This Bluff City is located in Giles County and lies 910 miles [1,464.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Bluff City that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Giles County community of Bluff City.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bluff 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.

  • Bobbittville ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bobbittville is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bobbittville
  • Forest
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Forest is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
  • Glover ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Glover is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glover
  • Kennedy Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kennedy Crossing is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy Crossing
  • Liberty Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Liberty Hill is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
  • Plain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Plain is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plain
  • Sweet Union
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sweet Union is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Union
  • Walker Crossing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Walker Crossing is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker Crossing
  • Weeping Mary
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Weeping Mary is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeping Mary

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Bluff City once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Bluff City and extending to:

  • Crockett, which is the Seat of Houston County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bluff City to Crockett, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 177 miles [284.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,137 miles [1,829.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 65 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,986 miles [11,242.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,712 miles [12,411.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,588 miles [8,993 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Bluff City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Bluff City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bluff 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>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 Bluff City 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 Bluff City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5407, Longitude: -95.1444       In this case, the coordinates for Bluff City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.692 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.863 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.075 degrees.