RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Bowie County >> Old Salem >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old Salem, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Salem 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 Old Salem:
    • 33.451506, -94.527149
    • 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 Old Salem
  • 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 Bowie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bowie County
    • Since Old Salem is near Red River County and also Little River County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Red River County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Little River 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 Old Salem

Communities Also Named Old Salem ...

We found four communities that are also named Old Salem.

There is one other community in Texas that is also named Old Salem.

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

  • Communities Located In Texas ...
    • Newton County
      • This Old Salem is located in Newton County and lies 205 miles [329.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Old Salem that is located in Bowie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Old Salem.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Monroe County
      • This Old Salem is located in Monroe County and lies 435 miles [700.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Old Salem that is located in Bowie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Old Salem.
    • North Carolina
      • Mecklenburg County
      • This Old Salem is located in Mecklenburg County and lies 791 miles [1,273 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Old Salem that is located in Bowie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecklenburg County community of Old Salem.
    • Tennessee
      • Franklin County
      • This Old Salem is located in Franklin County and lies 485 miles [780.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Old Salem that is located in Bowie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Old Salem.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Salem ...

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.

  • Boston
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Boston is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
  • Burns
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Burns is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns
  • Carbondale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Carbondale is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
  • Hooks
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Lydia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Lydia is located in Red River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
  • Malta
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Malta is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
  • Maud
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Maud is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maud
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,063 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maud <2>
  • Oak Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Spanish Bluff ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Spanish Bluff is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Bluff
  • Tuckers Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Tuckers Corner is located in Bowie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckers Corner

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

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

  • Boston, which is the Seat of Bowie County, lies just to the East.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 289 miles [465.1 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Old Salem to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 17 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,042 miles [1,676.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,863 miles [11,044.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,593 miles [12,219.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,471 miles [8,804.7 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- Old Salem) 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 Old Salem 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 Old Salem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4515, Longitude: -94.5271       In this case, the coordinates for Old Salem have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.519 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.907 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.565 degrees.