Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Elwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elwood and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Elwood
- 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 Elwood:
- 32.738461, -95.949689
- 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 Elwood
- 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 Van Zandt County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Van Zandt County
- Since Elwood is near Rains County and also Kaufman County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rains County
- eBird sighting report for Kaufman 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 Elwood ...
We found nineteen communities that share the name Elwood.
There are two communities within Texas that are also named Elwood.
Beyond Texas, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- Fannin County
- Madison County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Oregon
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elwood ...
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.
- Cedar Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Cedar Grove is located in Kaufman County
- Elmo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmo
- Elmo is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmo <5>
- Flats
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flats
- Flats is located in Rains County
- Frog
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Fruitvale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitvale
- Fruitvale is located in Van Zandt County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 437 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitvale <5>
- Hawk Cove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Hermits Cove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermits Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermits Cove
- Hermits Cove is located in Rains County
- Hooker Ridge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker Ridge
- Hooker Ridge is located in Rains County
- Prospect
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Rocky Point Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Point Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point Center
- Rocky Point Center is located in Rains County
- Small
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Willow Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
- Willow Springs is located in Rains County
How Far From Elwood to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Elwood to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Elwood and extending to:
- Canton, which is the Seat of Van Zandt County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Elwood to Canton, with an average speed<6> 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 200 miles [321.9 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,138 miles [1,831.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 65 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,954 miles [11,191.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,686 miles [12,369.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,564 miles [8,954.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Elwood. 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elwood) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.7385, Longitude: -95.9497 In this case, the coordinates for Elwood 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Elwood 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 Elwood, 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Elwood to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.372 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.814 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.286 degrees. |