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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Paddock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Paddock 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 Paddock:
    • 29.882800, -95.694300
    • 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 Paddock
  • 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 Paddock is near Fort Bend County and also Waller County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fort Bend County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Waller 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 Paddock

Communities Also Named Paddock ...

We found five communities that are also named Paddock.

Within Texas, the name Paddock is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Otter Tail County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Paddock [Otter Tail County].
    • Nebraska
      • Holt County
      • This Paddock is located in Holt County and lies 904 miles [1,454.8 km]<2> to the north of the Paddock that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holt County community of Paddock.
      • Merrick County
      • This Paddock is located in Merrick County and lies 784 miles [1,261.7 km] to the north of the Paddock that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Merrick County community of Paddock.
    • Vermont
      • Caledonia County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Caledonia County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caledonia County community of Paddock.
    • Washington
      • Walla Walla County
      • This Paddock is located in Walla Walla County and lies 1,665 miles [2,679.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the Paddock that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walla Walla County community of Paddock.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Paddock ...

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.

  • Cypress Meadow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cypress Meadow is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Meadow
  • Hearthstone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hearthstone is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hearthstone
  • Hot Wells
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hot Wells is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Wells
  • Rockstone
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Rockstone is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockstone
  • Rolling Green
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rolling Green is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Green
  • Settlers Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Settlers Village is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Village
  • Silvermill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Silvermill is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silvermill
  • Tower Oaks Meadows
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Tower Oaks Meadows is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Oaks Meadows
  • Windsong
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Windsong is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong
  • Wood Fern
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Wood Fern is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Fern

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

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

  • Houston, which is the Seat of Harris County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Paddock to Houston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 125 miles [201.2 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,228 miles [1,976.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 70 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,094 miles [11,416.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,816 miles [12,578.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,691 miles [9,158.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Paddock 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Paddock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Paddock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Paddock 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 Paddock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8828, Longitude: -95.6943       In this case, the coordinates for Paddock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.817 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.796 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.481 degrees.