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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Heatherwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Heatherwood 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 Heatherwood:
    • 29.681900, -95.418900
    • 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 Heatherwood
  • 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 Harris County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harris County
    • Since Heatherwood is near Fort Bend County and also Brazoria County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fort Bend County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brazoria 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 Heatherwood

Communities Also Named Heatherwood ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Heatherwood.

Within Texas, the name Heatherwood is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Jefferson County and lies 585 miles [941.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Heatherwood.
      • Shelby County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Shelby County and lies 570 miles [917.3 km] to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Heatherwood.
    • Colorado
      • Boulder County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Heatherwood [Boulder County].
    • Georgia
      • Clayton County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Clayton County and lies 699 miles [1,124.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of Heatherwood.
    • Maryland
      • Howard County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Howard County and lies 1,239 miles [1,994 km]<1> to the northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Heatherwood.
    • New Jersey
      • Middlesex County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Heatherwood [Middlesex County].
    • North Carolina
      • Mecklenburg County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Mecklenburg County and lies 937 miles [1,508 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecklenburg County community of Heatherwood.
    • South Carolina
      • Aiken County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Aiken County and lies 835 miles [1,343.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aiken County community of Heatherwood.
      • Orangeburg County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Orangeburg County and lies 895 miles [1,440.4 km] to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orangeburg County community of Heatherwood.
      • Pickens County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Pickens County and lies 814 miles [1,310 km] to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pickens County community of Heatherwood.
      • York County
      • This Heatherwood is located in York County and lies 913 miles [1,469.3 km] to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Heatherwood.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,196 miles [1,924.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Heatherwood.
    • Virginia
      • Hanover County
      • This Heatherwood is located in Hanover County and lies 1,173 miles [1,887.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Heatherwood that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hanover County community of Heatherwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Heatherwood ...

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.

  • Glen Iris
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Glen Iris is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Iris
  • Linkwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Linkwood is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linkwood
  • Maplewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Maplewood is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Paradise Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Paradise Valley is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Valley
  • Pierce Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Pierce Junction is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce Junction
  • Post Oak Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Post Oak Village is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak Village
  • Sunny Side
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Sunny Side is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
  • Sunnyside Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunnyside Gardens is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside Gardens
  • University Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • University Oaks is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Oaks
  • Willow Bend
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Willow Bend is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Bend
  • Willow Brook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Willow Brook is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Brook
  • Woodside
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Woodside is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
  • Woodside Plaza
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Woodside Plaza is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside Plaza

How Far From Heatherwood to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Heatherwood to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Houston, which is the Seat of Harris County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 144 miles [231.7 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Heatherwood to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,223 miles [1,968.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 70 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,093 miles [11,415.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,814 miles [12,575.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,689 miles [9,155.6 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Heatherwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Heatherwood 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>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 Heatherwood 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 Heatherwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6819, Longitude: -95.4189       In this case, the coordinates for Heatherwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.61 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.526 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.386 degrees.