Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ellen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ellen and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ellen
- 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 Ellen:
- 34.021466, -101.626558
- 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 Ellen
- 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 Hale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hale County
- Since Ellen is near Floyd County and also Lubbock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Floyd County
- eBird sighting report for Lubbock 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 Ellen ...
We found four communities that share the name Ellen.
Within Texas, the name Ellen is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Kentucky
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ellen ...
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.
- Cereal
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Farmer
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
- Farmer is located in Crosby County
- Happy Union
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Union have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Union
- Happy Union is located in Hale County
- Harmony
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Heckville ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - Plains Assembly
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plains Assembly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains Assembly
- Plains Assembly is located in Floyd County
- Plainview
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
- Plainview is located in Hale County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,670 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plainview <4>
- Providence
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Floyd County
- Sandhill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Six Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Ellen 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 Ellen to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ellen and extending to:
- Plainview, which is the Seat of Hale County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ellen to Plainview, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 344 miles [553.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,401 miles [2,254.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,089 miles [11,408.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,838 miles [12,614 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,730 miles [9,221.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ellen. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
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 Ellen, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ellen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ellen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0215, Longitude: -101.6266 In this case, the coordinates for Ellen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Ellen 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 323.431 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.752 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.794 degrees. |