RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Bell County >> Little River Academy >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Little River Academy, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Little River Academy 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 Little River Academy:
    • 30.984125, -97.352527
    • 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 Little River Academy
  • 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 Little River Academy ...

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.

  • Hobbs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobbs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs
    • Hobbs is located in Bell County
  • Holland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Joe Lee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joe Lee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joe Lee
    • Joe Lee is located in Bell County
  • Little River
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Oscar
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oscar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
    • Oscar is located in Bell County
  • Rogers
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Sparks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Stringtown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Stringtown is located in Bell County
  • Temple
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)

How Far From Little River Academy to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Little River Academy to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Little River Academy and extending to:

  • Belton, which is the Seat of Bell County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 54 miles [86.9 km]<3> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Little River Academy to Austin, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,269 miles [2,042.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,100 miles [11,426.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,831 miles [12,602.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,708 miles [9,186.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Little River Academy) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Little River Academy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.9841, Longitude: -97.3525    
<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 Little River Academy to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.066 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.408 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.087 degrees.