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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Polar, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Polar 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 Polar:
- 33.033432, -100.989014
- 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 Polar
- 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 Kent County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Kent County
- Since Polar is near Scurry County and also Garza County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Scurry County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Garza 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 Polar
Communities Also Named Polar ...
We found two communities that are also named Polar.
Within Texas, the name Polar is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Virginia
- Nelson 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 Virginia community of Polar [Nelson County].
- Wisconsin
- Langlade County
- This Polar is located in Langlade County and lies 1,053 miles [1,694.6 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Polar that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Langlade County community of Polar.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Polar ...
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.
- Brand
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Brand is located in Scurry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brand
- Fullerville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Fullerville is located in Scurry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullerville
- Graham
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Graham is located in Garza County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Harmony
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Harmony is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- Hobbs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hobbs is located in Fisher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs
- Justiceburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Knapp
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Knapp is located in Scurry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knapp
- Post
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Union
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Union is located in Scurry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
How Far From Polar 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 Polar to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Polar and extending to:
- Jayton, which is the Seat of Kent County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Polar to Jayton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 269 miles [432.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,393 miles [2,241.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,122 miles [11,461.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,867 miles [12,660.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,755 miles [9,261.8 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 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 Polar 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Polar) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Polar 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 Polar. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0334, Longitude: -100.9890 In this case, the coordinates for Polar have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 322.846 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.943 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.569 degrees. |
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