RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Starr County >> Falcon Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Falcon Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Falcon Heights and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Falcon Heights:
    • 26.558944, -99.123088
    • 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 Falcon Heights
  • 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 Starr County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Starr County
    • Since Falcon Heights is near Zapata County and also Jim Hogg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Zapata County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jim Hogg 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 Falcon Heights

Communities Also Named Falcon Heights ...

We found two communities that are also named Falcon Heights.

Within Texas, the name Falcon Heights is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Ramsey County
      • This Falcon Heights is located in Ramsey County and lies 1,314 miles [2,114.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Falcon Heights that is located in Starr County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ramsey County community of Falcon Heights.
    • Oregon
      • Klamath County
      • This Falcon Heights is located in Klamath County and lies 1,670 miles [2,687.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Falcon Heights that is located in Starr County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Klamath County community of Falcon Heights.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Falcon Heights ...

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.

  • Evergreen
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen is located in Starr County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Evergreen has also been known as:
    • Evergreen Colonia
  • Falcon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Falcon is located in Zapata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon
  • Falcon Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Falcon Village is located in Starr County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon Village
  • Hackberry
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hackberry is located in Starr County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
    • Hackberry has also been known as:
    • Hackberry Colonia
  • Hilltop
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hilltop is located in Starr County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
    • Hilltop has also been known as:
    • Hilltop Colonia
  • Margarita
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Margarita is located in Starr County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Margarita
    • Margarita has also been known as:
    • Margarita Colonia
  • New Falcon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • New Falcon is located in Zapata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Falcon
    • New Falcon has also been known as:
    • New Falcon Colonia
  • Sunset
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunset is located in Starr County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
    • Sunset has also been known as:
    • Sunset Colonia

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

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

  • Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Falcon Heights to Rio Grande City, with an average speed<2> 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 most of a day.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 269 miles [432.9 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,533 miles [2,467.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 88 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,404 miles [11,915.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,126 miles [13,077.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,001 miles [9,657.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Falcon Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Falcon Heights 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 Falcon Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.5589, Longitude: -99.1231       In this case, the coordinates for Falcon Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.48 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.338 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.121 degrees.