Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Paynes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Paynes and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Paynes
- 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 Paynes:
- 29.600513, -95.613835
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Paynes
- 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 Fort Bend County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fort Bend County
- Since Paynes is near Harris County and also Brazoria County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Harris County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Paynes ...
We found five communities that share the name Paynes.
Within Texas, the name Paynes is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Ontario
- This Paynes lies 1,208 miles [1,944.1 km]<2> to the northeast of the Paynes that is located in Fort Bend County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Paynes ...
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.
- Fifth Street
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fifth Street have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fifth Street
- Fifth Street is located in Fort Bend County
- First Colony
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for First Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Colony
- First Colony is located in Fort Bend County
- Greatwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Hall Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Herbert
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Kingsway
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Meadows
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Meadows Place
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadows Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows Place
- Meadows Place is located in Fort Bend County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,813 people
- New Territory
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Territory have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Territory
- New Territory is located in Fort Bend County
- Pheasant Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pheasant Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Creek
- Pheasant Creek is located in Fort Bend County
- Quail Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quail Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Valley
- Quail Valley is located in Fort Bend County
- Sugar Land
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Land
- Sugar Land is located in Fort Bend County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 117,875 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar Land <5>
How Far From Paynes to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Paynes to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Paynes and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the Seat of Fort Bend County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Paynes to Richmond, with an average speed<6> 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 135 miles [217.3 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,235 miles [1,987.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 49 days and walking would take 71 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,105 miles [11,434.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,826 miles [12,594.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,701 miles [9,174.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Paynes. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Fort Bend County: www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
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 Paynes 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- Paynes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Paynes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6005, Longitude: -95.6138 In this case, the coordinates for Paynes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Paynes to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.723 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.648 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.474 degrees. |