RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Cameron County >> Port Brownsville >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Port Brownsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Port Brownsville 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 Port Brownsville:
    • 25.944802, -97.404703
    • 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 Port Brownsville
  • 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 Cameron County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
    • Since Port Brownsville is near Hidalgo County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo 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 Port Brownsville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Port Brownsville ...

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.

  • Angel Haven
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Angel Haven is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel Haven
    • Angel Haven has also been known as:
    • Angel Haven Colonia
  • Clarksville ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Clarksville is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
  • Four Corners
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Four Corners is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Green Valley Farms
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Valley Farms is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley Farms
    • Green Valley Farms has also been known as:
    • Green Valley Farms Colonia
  • Holly Beach
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Holly Beach is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Beach
  • Illinois Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Illinois Heights is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois Heights
    • Illinois Heights has also been known as:
    • Illinois Heights Colonia
  • Indian Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Lake is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
  • Jaime Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jaime Lake is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaime Lake
    • Jaime Lake has also been known as:
    • Jaime Lake Colonia
  • Palm Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Palm Grove is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Grove
  • Stardust
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Stardust is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stardust
    • Stardust has also been known as:
    • Stardust Colonia

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Port Brownsville and extending to:

  • Brownsville, which is the Seat of Cameron County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 299 miles [481.2 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Port Brownsville to Austin, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six 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 1,480 miles [2,381.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 58 days and walking would take 84 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,367 miles [11,856 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,082 miles [13,006.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,957 miles [9,586.9 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Port Brownsville) 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 Port Brownsville 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 Port Brownsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 25.9448, Longitude: -97.4047       In this case, the coordinates for Port Brownsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.24 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.785 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.452 degrees.