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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hilburn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hilburn 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 Hilburn:
    • 34.365628, -102.090463
    • 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 Hilburn
  • 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 Castro County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Castro County
    • Since Hilburn is near Swisher County and also Hale County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Swisher County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hale 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 Hilburn

Communities Also Named Hilburn ...

We found one communities that are also named Hilburn.

Within Texas, the name Hilburn is unique.

Beyond Texas, there is another community also named Hilburn in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Wisconsin
      • Walworth County
      • This Hilburn is located in Walworth County and lies 940 miles [1,512.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Hilburn that is located in Castro County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walworth County community of Hilburn.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hilburn ...

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 Square
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Big Square is located in Castro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Square
  • Circle
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Circle is located in Lamb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circle
  • Earth
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Flagg
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Flagg is located in Castro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg
  • Halfway
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Halfway is located in Hale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway
  • Hart
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hart is located in Castro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,016 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hart <2>
  • Lakeview
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeview is located in Swisher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Sunnyside
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Sunnyside is located in Castro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside

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

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

  • Dimmitt, which is the Seat of Castro County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Hilburn to Dimmitt, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 379 miles [609.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,418 miles [2,282 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 56 days and walking would take 81 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,086 miles [11,403.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,836 miles [12,610.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,731 miles [9,223.2 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- Hilburn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Hilburn 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 Hilburn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3656, Longitude: -102.0905       In this case, the coordinates for Hilburn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 323.807 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.237 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.991 degrees.