Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cortez, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cortez and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cortez
- 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 Cortez:
- 26.381454, -98.832249
- 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 Cortez
- 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 Starr County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Starr County
- Since Cortez is near Hidalgo County and also Zapata County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- eBird sighting report for Zapata 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 Cortez ...
We found eight communities that share the name Cortez.
Within Texas, the name Cortez is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Kansas
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Valencia County
- Although located in Valencia County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valencia County community of Cortez.
- Pennsylvania
- Jefferson County
- This Cortez is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,516 miles [2,439.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cortez that is located in Starr County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Cortez.
- Lackawanna County
- This Cortez is located in Lackawanna County and lies 1,687 miles [2,715 km] to the northeast of the Cortez that is located in Starr County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lackawanna County community of Cortez.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cortez ...
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.
- Airport Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Airport Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Heights
- Airport Heights is located in Starr County
- Hackberry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Hilltop
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Joseph Griggs Colonia
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joseph Griggs Colonia have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Griggs Colonia
- Joseph Griggs Colonia is located in Starr County
- Manuel Garcia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manuel Garcia have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manuel Garcia
- Manuel Garcia is located in Starr County
- Manuel Garcia has also been known as:
- Manuel Garcia Colonia
- Margarita
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Mitchell
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Salmon
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Sammy Martinez
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sammy Martinez have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sammy Martinez
- Sammy Martinez is located in Starr County
- Sammy Martinez has also been known as:
- Sammy Martinez Colonia
How Far From Cortez 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 Cortez to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cortez and extending to:
- Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Cortez to Austin, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,527 miles [2,457.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 87 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,401 miles [11,910.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,122 miles [13,071.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,997 miles [9,651.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cortez. 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 '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- Cortez) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cortez. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3815, Longitude: -98.8322 In this case, the coordinates for Cortez have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Cortez 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 Cortez, 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 Cortez 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 320.253 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.045 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.008 degrees. |