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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Emmaus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Emmaus 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 Emmaus:
    • 32.015166, -95.048831
    • 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 Emmaus
  • 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 Cherokee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
    • Since Emmaus is near Rusk County and also Smith County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rusk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smith 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 Emmaus

Communities Also Named Emmaus ...

We found two communities that are also named Emmaus.

Within Texas, the name Emmaus is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lehigh County
      • This Emmaus is located in Lehigh County and lies 1,233 miles [1,984.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Emmaus that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lehigh County community of Emmaus.
    • Virginia
      • Bedford County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Emmaus [Bedford County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Emmaus ...

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 Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Springs is located in Rusk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
  • Blackjack
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Blackjack is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackjack
  • Brushy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Brushy is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy
  • Good Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Good Springs is located in Rusk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Springs
  • Griffin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Griffin is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
  • Gum Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Gum Springs is located in Rusk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Henrys Chapel
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Henrys Chapel is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Chapel
  • Lone Star
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lone Star is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Pleasant Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Rusk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Rock Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rock Hill is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Emmaus and extending to:

  • Rusk, which is the Seat of Cherokee County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Emmaus to Rusk, 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 five to six hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 199 miles [320.3 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 1,116 miles [1,796 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,958 miles [11,197.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,685 miles [12,367.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,561 miles [8,949.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Emmaus) 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 Emmaus, 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 Emmaus 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 Emmaus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0152, Longitude: -95.0488       In this case, the coordinates for Emmaus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.691 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.922 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.978 degrees.