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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Delta West, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Delta West 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 Delta West:
    • 26.312293, -98.035283
    • 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 Delta West
  • 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 Delta West 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 Delta West

Curious and Interesting Names Near Delta West ...

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.

  • Big John
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Big John is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big John
    • Big John has also been known as:
    • Big John Colonia
  • Catherine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Catherine is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine
    • Catherine has also been known as:
    • Catherine Colonia
  • Delta - Rodger
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • 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
  • Evergreen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Imperial
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Imperial is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial
    • Imperial has also been known as:
    • Imperial Colonia
  • Isaacs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Isaacs is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isaacs
    • Isaacs has also been known as:
    • Isaacs Colonia
  • Jessups
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jessups is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jessups
    • Jessups has also been known as:
    • Jessups Colonia
  • Matt
    (5 miles [8 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
  • Meadow Lands
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadow Lands is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lands
    • Meadow Lands has also been known as:
    • Meadow Lands Colonia
  • Merrill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Merrill is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill
    • Merrill has also been known as:
    • Merrill Colonia
  • Sandy Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sandy Ridge is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
    • Sandy Ridge has also been known as:
    • Sandy Ridge Colonia
  • Summerwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Summerwood is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwood
    • Summerwood has also been known as:
    • Summerwood Colonia
  • Tower Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Twin Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Twin Lake is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lake
    • Twin Lake has also been known as:
    • Twin Lake Colonia

How Far From Delta West 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 Delta West to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Delta West and extending to:

  • Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies just to the West.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 273 miles [439.4 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Delta West to Austin, with an average speed<2>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 1,492 miles [2,401.1 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,373 miles [11,865.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,091 miles [13,021.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,967 miles [9,603 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Delta West) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Delta West 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 Delta West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3123, Longitude: -98.0353       In this case, the coordinates for Delta West have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.719 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.401 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.688 degrees.