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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Melrose Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melrose Park 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 Melrose Park:
    • 29.870225, -95.371604
    • 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 Melrose Park
  • 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 Melrose Park is near Montgomery County and also Fort Bend County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fort Bend 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 Melrose Park

Communities Also Named Melrose Park ...

We found seven communities that are also named Melrose Park.

Within Texas, the name Melrose Park is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Broward County
      • This Melrose Park is located in Broward County and lies 960 miles [1,545 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Melrose Park that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Broward County community of Melrose Park.
      • Columbia 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 Florida community of Melrose Park [Columbia County].
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Melrose Park is located in Cook County and lies 930 miles [1,496.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Melrose Park that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Melrose Park.
    • New York
      • Cayuga County
      • This Melrose Park is located in Cayuga County and lies 1,374 miles [2,211.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Melrose Park that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cayuga County community of Melrose Park.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Montgomery County
      • This Melrose Park is located in Montgomery County and lies 1,339 miles [2,154.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Melrose Park that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Melrose Park.
    • Tennessee
      • Coffee County
      • This Melrose Park is located in Coffee County and lies 663 miles [1,067 km]<1> to the northeast of the Melrose Park that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coffee County community of Melrose Park.
    • Wisconsin
      • Winnebago County
      • This Melrose Park is located in Winnebago County and lies 1,046 miles [1,683.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Melrose Park that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winnebago County community of Melrose Park.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Melrose Park ...

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.

  • Airline Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Airline Farms is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airline Farms
  • Airline Terrace
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Airline Terrace is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airline Terrace
  • Fair Green
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fair Green is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Green
  • Garden Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Garden Oaks is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Oaks
  • Greenwood Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Greenwood Village is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Village
  • Hardy Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hardy Heights is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy Heights
  • Heather Glen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Heather Glen is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Glen
  • Imperial Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Imperial Valley is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial Valley
  • Lincoln City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lincoln City is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln City
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • North Shadydale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • North Shadydale is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Shadydale
    • Orange Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Orange Grove is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
    • Ridge Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Ridge Point is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Point
    • Scenic Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Scenic Woods is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Woods
    • Shady Timbers
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Shady Timbers is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Timbers
    • Willow Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Willow Run is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run

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

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

  • Houston, which is the Seat of Harris County, lies just to the South.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 144 miles [231.7 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Melrose Park to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,213 miles [1,952.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 69 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,081 miles [11,395.8 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 5,678 miles [9,137.9 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- Melrose Park) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Melrose Park 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 Melrose Park 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 Melrose Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8702, Longitude: -95.3716       In this case, the coordinates for Melrose Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.607 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.547 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.348 degrees.