Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Loraine, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Loraine and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Loraine
- 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 Loraine:
- 32.408808, -100.712660
- 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 Loraine
- 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 Mitchell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
- Since Loraine is near Nolan County and also Scurry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nolan County
- eBird sighting report for Scurry 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 Loraine ...
We found five communities that share the name Loraine.
Within Texas, the name Loraine is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Illinois
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Loraine ...
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.
- Champion
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - China Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for China Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Grove
- China Grove is located in Scurry County
- Ira
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ira have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ira
- Ira is located in Scurry County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ira <5>
- Maryneal
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maryneal have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryneal
- Maryneal is located in Nolan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maryneal <5>
- Pecan Crossing
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pecan Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Crossing
- Pecan Crossing is located in Mitchell County
- Silver ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver
- Silver is located in Coke County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver <5>
- Spade
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spade
- Spade is located in Mitchell County
- Sweetwater
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetwater have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Sweetwater is located in Nolan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,535 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sweetwater <5>
How Far From Loraine 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 town such as Loraine to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Loraine and extending to:
- Colorado City, which is the Seat of Mitchell County, lies just to the West.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 229 miles [368.5 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Loraine to Austin, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,397 miles [2,248.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,147 miles [11,502 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,890 miles [12,697.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,775 miles [9,294 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Loraine. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Loraine) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Loraine. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.4088, Longitude: -100.7127 In this case, the coordinates for Loraine have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Loraine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Loraine 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. |
| <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 Loraine 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 322.563 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.534 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.488 degrees. |