RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Mills County >> Ebony >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ebony, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ebony 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 Ebony:
    • 31.502754, -98.897987
    • 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 Ebony
  • 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 Mills County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mills County
    • Since Ebony is near Brown County and also San Saba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brown County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Saba 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 Ebony

Communities Also Named Ebony ...

We found two communities that are also named Ebony.

Within Texas, the name Ebony is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Crittenden County
      • This Ebony is located in Crittenden County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ebony that is located in Mills County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crittenden County community of Ebony.
    • Virginia
      • Brunswick County
      • This Ebony is located in Brunswick County and lies 1,243 miles [2,000.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ebony that is located in Mills County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brunswick County community of Ebony.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ebony ...

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.

  • Blanket Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Blanket Springs is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanket Springs
  • Buffalo
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Buffalo is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
  • Duke Crossing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Duke Crossing is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Crossing
  • Elm Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Elm Grove is located in San Saba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Grove
  • Indian Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Keys Crossing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Locker ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Regency ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Regency is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
  • Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Tenmile Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Tenmile Crossing is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile Crossing

How Far From Ebony 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 Ebony 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<2> community of Ebony once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ebony and extending to:

  • Goldthwaite, which is the Seat of Mills County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Ebony to Goldthwaite, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 109 miles [175.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,330 miles [2,140.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 52 days and walking would take 76 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,130 miles [11,474.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,867 miles [12,660.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,746 miles [9,247.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Ebony) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Ebony, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Ebony 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 Ebony. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5028, Longitude: -98.8980       In this case, the coordinates for Ebony have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.181 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.788 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.727 degrees.