Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ivan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ivan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ivan
- 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 Ivan:
- 32.874565, -98.733396
- 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 Ivan
- 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 Stephens County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Stephens County
- Since Ivan is near Young County and also Palo Pinto County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Young County
- eBird sighting report for Palo Pinto 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 Ivan ...
We found seven communities that share the name Ivan.
Within Texas, the name Ivan is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Ontario
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ivan ...
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.
- Brad
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Crystal Falls
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Falls
- Crystal Falls is located in Stephens County
- Eliasville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eliasville
- Eliasville is located in Young County
- Graham
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Graham is located in Young County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,568 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Graham <4>
- Harpersville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harpersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpersville
- Harpersville is located in Stephens County
- Murray
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
- Murray is located in Young County
- Necessity
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necessity
- Necessity is located in Stephens County
- Twin Mountains
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Mountains have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Mountains
- Twin Mountains is located in Young County
How Far From Ivan 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 Ivan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ivan and extending to:
- Breckenridge, which is the Seat of Stephens County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ivan to Breckenridge, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 189 miles [304.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,279 miles [2,058.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,050 miles [11,345.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,790 miles [12,536.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,672 miles [9,128.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ivan. 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ivan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ivan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8746, Longitude: -98.7334 In this case, the coordinates for Ivan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Ivan 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Ivan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.262 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.053 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.529 degrees. |