Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ratcliff, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ratcliff and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ratcliff
- 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 Ratcliff:
- 31.391570, -95.139660
- 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 Ratcliff
- 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 Houston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Houston County
- Since Ratcliff is near Trinity County and also Cherokee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Trinity County
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee 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 Ratcliff ...
We found eight communities that share the name Ratcliff.
There are two communities within Texas that are also named Ratcliff.
Beyond Texas, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- San Augustine County
- Starr County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Gray 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 Kansas community of Ratcliff [Gray County].
- Hodgeman County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Hodgeman County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hodgeman County community of Ratcliff.
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ratcliff ...
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.
- Bluff City ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluff City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Bluff City is located in Houston County
- Center Point ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
- Center Point is located in Trinity County
- Fog Town
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Forest
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
- Forest is located in Cherokee County
- Friendship
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Trinity County
- Hickory Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Creek
- Hickory Creek is located in Houston County
- Plain
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Redtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redtown
- Redtown is located in Angelina County
- Stubblefield
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stubblefield have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubblefield
- Stubblefield is located in Houston County
- Sweet Union
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Union have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Union
- Sweet Union is located in Cherokee County
- Walker Crossing
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walker Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker Crossing
- Walker Crossing is located in Houston County
How Far From Ratcliff 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 Ratcliff to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ratcliff and extending to:
- Crockett, which is the Seat of Houston County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ratcliff to Crockett, with an average speed<5> 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 6 hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 172 miles [276.8 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,143 miles [1,839.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 65 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,994 miles [11,255.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,719 miles [12,422.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,595 miles [9,004.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ratcliff. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Ratcliff 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ratcliff) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ratcliff. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3916, Longitude: -95.1397 In this case, the coordinates for Ratcliff have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Ratcliff, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Ratcliff to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.67 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.817 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.09 degrees. |