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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dreka, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dreka and the surrounding area.
- 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 Dreka:
- 31.674897, -93.956302
- 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 Dreka
- 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Since Dreka is near San Augustine County and also Sabine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Augustine County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Sabine 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 Dreka
Communities Also Named Dreka ...
We found one communities that are also named Dreka.
Within Texas, the name Dreka is unique.
Beyond Texas, there is another community also named Dreka in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Virginia
- Accomack 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 Virginia community of Dreka [Accomack County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dreka ...
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.
- Alexanders Store
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Alexanders Store is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexanders Store
- Black Ankle
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Black Ankle is located in San Augustine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Ankle
- Bland Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bland Lake is located in San Augustine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bland Lake
- Choice
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Choice is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choice
- Goober Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Goober Hill is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goober Hill
- Jordans Store
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jordans Store is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordans Store
- Lanetown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lanetown is located in San Augustine County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanetown
- New Harmony
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- New Harmony is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Harmony
- Ragtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Ragtown is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragtown
How Far From Dreka 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 Dreka to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Dreka and extending to:
- Center, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dreka to Center, 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 244 miles [392.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,073 miles [1,726.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 61 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,933 miles [11,157.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,656 miles [12,321.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,531 miles [8,901.3 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 Dreka 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dreka) 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 Dreka 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 Dreka. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6749, Longitude: -93.9563 In this case, the coordinates for Dreka have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.943 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.001 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.553 degrees. |
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