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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in J F Villareal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to J F Villareal 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 J F Villareal:
    • 26.420340, -98.979197
    • 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 J F Villareal
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near J F Villareal ...

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.

  • Airport Heights
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Airport Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Heights
    • Airport Heights is located in Starr County
  • Evergreen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Evergreen is located in Starr County
    • Evergreen has also been known as:
    • Evergreen Colonia
  • Hackberry
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
    • Hackberry is located in Starr County
    • Hackberry has also been known as:
    • Hackberry Colonia
  • Hilltop
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hilltop have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
    • Hilltop is located in Starr County
    • Hilltop has also been known as:
    • Hilltop Colonia
  • Joseph Griggs Colonia
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joseph Griggs Colonia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Griggs Colonia
    • Joseph Griggs Colonia is located in Starr County
  • Margarita
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Margarita have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Margarita
    • Margarita is located in Starr County
    • Margarita has also been known as:
    • Margarita Colonia
  • Mitchell
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mitchell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
    • Mitchell is located in Starr County
    • Mitchell has also been known as:
    • Mitchell Colonia
  • Salmon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salmon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon
    • Salmon is located in Starr County
    • Salmon has also been known as:
    • Salmon Colonia
  • Sunset
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
    • Sunset is located in Starr County
    • Sunset has also been known as:
    • Sunset Colonia

How Far From J F Villareal 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 J F Villareal to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in J F Villareal and extending to:

  • Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from J F Villareal to Rio Grande City, with an average speed<3> 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 276 miles [444.2 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 1,532 miles [2,465.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 87 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,405 miles [11,917.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,127 miles [13,079.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,002 miles [9,659.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- J F Villareal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in J F Villareal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.4203, Longitude: -98.9792       In this case, the coordinates for J F Villareal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 J F Villareal to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.358 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.174 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.067 degrees.