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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Johnsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Johnsville 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 Johnsville:
    • 32.145977, -98.026147
    • 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 Johnsville
  • 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 Erath County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Erath County
    • Since Johnsville is near Somervell County and also Hamilton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Somervell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamilton 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 Johnsville

Communities Also Named Johnsville ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Johnsville.

Within Texas, the name Johnsville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Bradley County
      • This Johnsville is located in Bradley County and lies 359 miles [577.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bradley County community of Johnsville.
    • California
      • Plumas County
      • This Johnsville is located in Plumas County and lies 1,366 miles [2,198.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Plumas County community of Johnsville.
    • Kentucky
      • Bracken County
      • This Johnsville is located in Bracken County and lies 902 miles [1,451.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bracken County community of Johnsville.
    • Maryland
      • Carroll County
      • This Johnsville is located in Carroll County and lies 1,278 miles [2,056.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Johnsville.
      • Frederick County
      • This Johnsville is located in Frederick County and lies 1,266 miles [2,037.4 km] to the east northeast of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Johnsville.
    • Michigan
      • Ottawa 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 Michigan community of Johnsville [Ottawa County].
    • Minnesota
      • Anoka County
      • This Johnsville is located in Anoka County and lies 937 miles [1,508 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anoka County community of Johnsville.
    • Mississippi
      • Adams County
      • This Johnsville is located in Adams County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<1> to the east of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Johnsville.
    • New York
      • Dutchess 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 York community of Johnsville [Dutchess County].
    • Ohio
      • Montgomery County
      • This Johnsville is located in Montgomery County and lies 922 miles [1,483.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Johnsville.
      • Morrow 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 Ohio community of Johnsville [Morrow County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Bucks County
      • This Johnsville is located in Bucks County and lies 1,389 miles [2,235.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bucks County community of Johnsville.
    • South Carolina
      • Colleton County
      • This Johnsville is located in Colleton County and lies 1,004 miles [1,615.8 km]<1> to the east of the Johnsville that is located in Erath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Colleton County community of Johnsville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Johnsville ...

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.

  • Bluff Dale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Chalk Mountain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Chalk Mountain is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk Mountain
  • Cottonwood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Cottonwood is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
  • Glass
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Glass is located in Somervell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass
  • Hill City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Hill City is located in Hood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
  • Knob Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Knob Hill is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob Hill
  • Seven Knobs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Seven Knobs is located in Somervell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Knobs
  • Three Way
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Three Way is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Way
  • Welcome Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Welcome Valley is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome Valley

How Far From Johnsville to ...

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

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

  • Stephenville, which is the Seat of Erath County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Johnsville to Stephenville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 130 miles [209.2 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,264 miles [2,034.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 72 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,063 miles [11,366.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,799 miles [12,551.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,679 miles [9,139.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Johnsville) 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 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 Johnsville 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Johnsville 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 Johnsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1460, Longitude: -98.0261       In this case, the coordinates for Johnsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.683 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.28 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.278 degrees.