Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Scranton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Scranton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Scranton
- 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 Scranton:
- 32.305132, -99.107013
- 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 Scranton
- 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 Eastland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Eastland County
- Since Scranton is near Callahan County and also Shackelford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Callahan County
- eBird sighting report for Shackelford 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 Scranton ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name Scranton.
Within Texas, the name Scranton is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Scranton ...
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.
- Admiral
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Cottonwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
- Cross Plains
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Plains
- Cross Plains is located in Callahan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 997 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cross Plains <5>
- Mitchell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Mountain Top
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Top have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Top
- Mountain Top is located in Eastland County
- Nimrod ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
- Nimrod is located in Eastland County
- Pioneer
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south) - Pleasant Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Eastland County
- Union Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Union Center is located in Eastland County
How Far From Scranton 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 Scranton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Scranton and extending to:
- Eastland, which is the Seat of Eastland County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Scranton to Eastland, with an average speed<6> 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 five to six hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 162 miles [260.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,315 miles [2,116.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 52 days and walking would take 75 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,095 miles [11,418.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,834 miles [12,607.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,715 miles [9,197.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Scranton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Eastland County: www.eastlandcountytexas.com/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Scranton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Scranton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3051, Longitude: -99.1070 In this case, the coordinates for Scranton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Scranton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Scranton 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. |
| <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'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 Scranton 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 321.439 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.192 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.754 degrees. |