Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Holden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Holden and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Holden
- 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 Holden:
- 31.653224, -96.447479
- 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 Holden
- 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 Limestone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Limestone County
- Since Holden is near Freestone County and also Navarro County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Freestone County
- eBird sighting report for Navarro 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 Holden ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Holden.
Within Texas, the name Holden is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seventeen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Holden lies 1,684 miles [2,710.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Holden that is located in Limestone County.
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Quebec
- This Holden lies 1,385 miles [2,228.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Holden that is located in Limestone County.
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Holden ...
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.
- Bi-Stone
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Cotton Gin
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Gin
- Cotton Gin is located in Freestone County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cotton Gin <5>
- Forest Glade
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Glade have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Glade
- Forest Glade is located in Limestone County
- Horn Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Lost Prairie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Prairie
- Lost Prairie is located in Limestone County
- Personville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Personville
- Personville is located in Limestone County
- Prairie Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
- Prairie Grove is located in Limestone County
- Red Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Sandy
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
How Far From Holden 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 Holden to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Holden and extending to:
- Groesbeck, which is the Seat of Limestone County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Holden to Groesbeck, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 122 miles [196.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,199 miles [1,929.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 69 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,030 miles [11,313.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,760 miles [12,488.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,637 miles [9,071.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Holden. 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Holden) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Holden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6532, Longitude: -96.4475 In this case, the coordinates for Holden have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Holden, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Holden 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. |
| <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 Holden 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 319.561 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.897 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.627 degrees. |