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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oakwilde, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oakwilde 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 Oakwilde:
    • 29.881400, -95.349800
    • 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 Oakwilde
  • 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 Oakwilde is near Montgomery County and also Brazoria 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 Brazoria 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 Oakwilde

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakwilde ...

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
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Airline Farms is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airline Farms
  • Airline Terrace
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Airline Terrace is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airline Terrace
  • Fair Green
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fair Green is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Green
  • Fountain View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fountain View is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain View
  • Garden Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Garden Oaks is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Oaks
  • Greenbranch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Greenbranch is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbranch
  • Greenwood Village
    (Less than 2 miles 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 west)
    • Hardy Heights is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy Heights
  • Heather Glen
    (5 miles [8 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
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lincoln City is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln City
  • North Shadydale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • North Shadydale is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Shadydale
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Orange Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Orange Grove is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
    • Ridge Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Ridge Point is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Point
    • Rosedale Gardens
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Rosedale Gardens is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Gardens
    • Scenic Woods
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Scenic Woods is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Woods
    • Shady Timbers
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Shady Timbers is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Timbers
    • Willow Run
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Willow Run is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Oakwilde 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 145 miles [233.4 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Oakwilde to Austin, with an average speed<2>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 1,211 miles [1,948.9 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,080 miles [11,394.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,801 miles [12,554.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,677 miles [9,136.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Oakwilde) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Oakwilde 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 Oakwilde. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8814, Longitude: -95.3498       In this case, the coordinates for Oakwilde have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.595 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.534 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.338 degrees.