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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Matt, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Matt and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Matt:
    • 26.248406, -97.975280
    • 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 Matt
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
    • Since Matt is near Cameron County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 Matt

Communities Also Named Matt ...

We found two communities that are also named Matt.

Within Texas, the name Matt is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Forsyth County
      • This Matt is located in Forsyth County and lies 992 miles [1,596.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Matt that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Forsyth County community of Matt.
    • Wisconsin
      • Monroe 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 Wisconsin community of Matt [Monroe County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Matt ...

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.

  • Big John
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Big John is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big John
    • Big John has also been known as:
    • Big John Colonia
  • Catherine
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Catherine is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine
    • Catherine has also been known as:
    • Catherine Colonia
  • Delta - Rodger
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Delta - Rodger is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta - Rodger
    • Delta - Rodger has also been known as:
    • Delta - Rodger Colonia
  • Delta Court
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Delta Court is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta Court
    • Delta Court has also been known as:
    • Delta Court Colonia
  • Delta West
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Delta West is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta West
    • Delta West has also been known as:
    • Delta West Colonia
  • Flora
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Flora is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
    • Flora has also been known as:
    • Flora Colonia
  • High Land
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • High Land is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Land
    • High Land has also been known as:
    • High Land Colonia
  • High Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • High Point is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • High Point has also been known as:
    • High Point Colonia
  • Imperial
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Imperial is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial
    • Imperial has also been known as:
    • Imperial Colonia
  • Indian Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Rebecca
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rebecca is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rebecca
    • Rebecca has also been known as:
    • Rebecca Colonia
  • Rosedale Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Rosedale Heights is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Heights
    • Rosedale Heights has also been known as:
    • Rosedale Heights Colonia
  • Sunrise Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Sunrise Hill is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Hill
    • Sunrise Hill has also been known as:
    • Sunrise Hill Colonia

How Far From Matt 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 community such as Matt to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Matt to Edinburg, with an average speed<3> 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 277 miles [445.8 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 1,493 miles [2,402.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 85 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,374 miles [11,867.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,092 miles [13,022.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,967 miles [9,603 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Matt) 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 Matt 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 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.
<4>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 Matt 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 Matt. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2484, Longitude: -97.9753       In this case, the coordinates for Matt have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.667 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.332 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.666 degrees.