Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shepherd, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shepherd and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shepherd
- 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 Shepherd:
- 30.490848, -95.001925
- 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 Shepherd
- 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 San Jacinto County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for San Jacinto County
- Since Shepherd is near Liberty County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Liberty County
- eBird sighting report for Polk 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 Shepherd ...
We found ten communities that share the name Shepherd.
Within Texas, the name Shepherd is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Coffee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Shepherd [Coffee County].
- Wayne County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Shepherd [Wayne County].
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Chouteau County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Shepherd [Chouteau County].
- Yellowstone County
- This Shepherd is located in Yellowstone County and lies 1,285 miles [2,068 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Shepherd that is located in San Jacinto County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yellowstone County community of Shepherd.
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shepherd ...
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.
- Africa ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Big Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Drews Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drews Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drews Landing
- Drews Landing is located in San Jacinto County
- Hightower
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Keno
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Lake Water Wheel
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Water Wheel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Water Wheel
- Lake Water Wheel is located in San Jacinto County
- Liberty Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Liberty Hill is located in San Jacinto County
- Pelican
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Rose Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Seaman
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
How Far From Shepherd 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 city such as Shepherd to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Shepherd and extending to:
- Coldspring, which is the Seat of San Jacinto County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shepherd to Coldspring, with an average speed<5> 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 164 miles [263.9 km] to the west (W). 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 1,170 miles [1,882.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,035 miles [11,321.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,757 miles [12,483.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,632 miles [9,063.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shepherd. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for San Jacinto County: www.co.san-jacinto.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Shepherd) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shepherd. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4908, Longitude: -95.0019 In this case, the coordinates for Shepherd have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Shepherd 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. |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Shepherd 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 318.459 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.453 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.131 degrees. |