Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in La Joya, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Joya and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for La Joya
- 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 La Joya:
- 26.245734, -98.481796
- 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 La Joya
- 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- Since La Joya is near Starr County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Starr 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 La Joya ...
We found four communities that share the name La Joya.
Within Texas, the name La Joya is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Los Angeles County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of La Joya [Los Angeles County].
- San Diego County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in San Diego County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of La Joya.
- New Mexico
- Santa Fe County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of La Joya [Santa Fe County].
- Socorro County
- This La Joya is located in Socorro County and lies 748 miles [1,203.8 km]<3> to the northwest of the La Joya that is located in Hidalgo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Socorro County community of La Joya.
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near La Joya ...
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.
- Carol
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Chihuahua
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chihuahua
- Chihuahua is located in Hidalgo County
- Chihuahua has also been known as:
- Chihuahua Colonia
- Citrus City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Citrus City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus City
- Citrus City is located in Hidalgo County
- Crow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Havana
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Havana is located in Hidalgo County
- Hill-Top
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Inspiration Heights
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inspiration Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inspiration Heights
- Inspiration Heights is located in Hidalgo County
- Inspiration Heights has also been known as:
- Inspiration Heights Colonia
- Inspiration Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inspiration Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inspiration Point
- Inspiration Point is located in Hidalgo County
- Inspiration Point has also been known as:
- Inspiration Point Colonia
- Lakeview
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Mikes
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Mission
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
- Mission is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 84,496 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mission <5>
- Ratcliff
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
How Far From La Joya 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 city such as La Joya to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in La Joya and extending to:
- Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<3> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from La Joya to Edinburg, with an average speed<6> 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 most of a day.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 281 miles [452.2 km] to the north (N). 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 1,516 miles [2,439.8 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,395 miles [11,901.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,114 miles [13,058.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,989 miles [9,638.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for La Joya. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 La Joya 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. |
| <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 La Joya, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- La Joya) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in La Joya. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2457, Longitude: -98.4818 |
| <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 La Joya 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 319.997 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.723 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.871 degrees. |