Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Smithland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Smithland
- 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 Smithland:
- 32.814029, -94.168242
- 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 Smithland
- 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- Since Smithland is near Cass County and also Harrison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cass County
- eBird sighting report for Harrison 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 Smithland ...
We found nine communities that share the name Smithland.
Within Texas, the name Smithland is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithland ...
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.
- Evans
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Ferry Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferry Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Lake
- Ferry Lake is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Gethsemane
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gethsemane have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gethsemane
- Gethsemane is located in Marion County
- Gray
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Hall
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Kildare
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kildare
- Kildare is located in Cass County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kildare <4>
- Kildare Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kildare Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kildare Junction
- Kildare Junction is located in Cass County
- Rambo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Stacy Landing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stacy Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy Landing
- Stacy Landing is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Trees
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Uncertain
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uncertain
- Uncertain is located in Harrison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Uncertain <4>
How Far From Smithland to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Smithland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Smithland and extending to:
- Jefferson, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Smithland to Jefferson, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 274 miles [441 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 1,044 miles [1,680.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,882 miles [11,075.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,610 miles [12,247.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,486 miles [8,828.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Smithland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Smithland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smithland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8140, Longitude: -94.1682 In this case, the coordinates for Smithland 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 Smithland 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Smithland 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 318.214 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.467 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.495 degrees. |