RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Harris County >> La Porte >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Porte, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Porte 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 La Porte:
    • 29.665428, -95.019354
    • 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 La Porte
  • 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 Harris County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harris County
    • Since La Porte is near Chambers County and also Galveston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chambers County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Galveston 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 La Porte

Communities Also Named La Porte ...

We found four communities that are also named La Porte.

Within Texas, the name La Porte is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Plumas County
      • This La Porte is located in Plumas County and lies 1,620 miles [2,607.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the La Porte that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Plumas County community of La Porte.
    • Colorado
      • Larimer 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 Colorado community of La Porte [Larimer County].
    • Indiana
      • LaPorte County
      • This La Porte is located in LaPorte County and lies 946 miles [1,522.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the La Porte that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the LaPorte County community of La Porte.
    • Kansas
      • Doniphan 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 Kansas community of La Porte [Doniphan County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Porte ...

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.

  • Cedar Bayou
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Crescent
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Crescent is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
  • Deer Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Four Corners
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Four Corners is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Ginger Green
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Ginger Green is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginger Green
  • Glen Cove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Glen Cove is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
  • Lazy Bend
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Lazy Bend is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lazy Bend
  • Link Five
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Link Five is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Link Five
  • Lynchburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Lynchburg is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg
  • Lynchburg Landing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lynchburg Landing is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg Landing
  • Mystic Village
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Mystic Village is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic Village
  • Quail Hollow
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Quail Hollow is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Shady Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Shady Oaks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Oaks
    • Surf Oaks
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Surf Oaks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surf Oaks
    • University Green
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • University Green is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Green
    • University Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • University Park is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park

How Far From La Porte 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 city such as La Porte to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Houston, which is the Seat of Harris County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from La Porte to Houston, with an average speed<4> 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 168 miles [270.4 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,204 miles [1,937.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 69 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,078 miles [11,390.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,798 miles [12,549.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,673 miles [9,129.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- La Porte) 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 La Porte 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 La Porte 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 La Porte. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6654, Longitude: -95.0194    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.351 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.219 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.222 degrees.