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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mattson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mattson 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 Mattson:
    • 33.252045, -99.597864
    • 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 Mattson
  • 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 Haskell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Haskell County
    • Since Mattson is near Throckmorton County and also Knox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Throckmorton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox 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 Mattson

Communities Also Named Mattson ...

We found two communities that are also named Mattson.

Within Texas, the name Mattson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Kittson County
      • This Mattson is located in Kittson County and lies 1,073 miles [1,726.8 km]<1> to the north of the Mattson that is located in Haskell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kittson County community of Mattson.
    • Mississippi
      • Coahoma County
      • This Mattson is located in Coahoma County and lies 525 miles [844.9 km]<1> to the east of the Mattson that is located in Haskell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coahoma County community of Mattson.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mattson ...

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.

  • Buzzard Peak Crossing
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Buzzard Peak Crossing is located in Throckmorton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzard Peak Crossing
  • Coody Crossing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Coody Crossing is located in Throckmorton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coody Crossing
  • Dug Ford
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dug Ford is located in Throckmorton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dug Ford
  • Hayford Crossing
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Hayford Crossing is located in Throckmorton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayford Crossing
  • Paint Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Paint Creek is located in Haskell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Creek
  • Paint Crossing
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Paint Crossing is located in Throckmorton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Crossing
  • Pinkerton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Pinkerton is located in Haskell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinkerton
  • Plainview
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Plainview is located in Haskell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
  • Rhineland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Rhineland is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhineland
  • Rule
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Rule is located in Haskell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rule
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 611 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rule <2>
  • Sunset
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunset is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
  • Union Grove
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Grove is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove

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

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

  • Haskell, which is the Seat of Haskell County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Mattson to Haskell, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 233 miles [375 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,314 miles [2,114.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 52 days and walking would take 75 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,061 miles [11,363.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,803 miles [12,557.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,688 miles [9,153.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mattson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Mattson 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 Mattson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2520, Longitude: -99.5979       In this case, the coordinates for Mattson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.907 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.86 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.895 degrees.