Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swartout, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swartout and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swartout
- 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 Swartout:
- 30.638531, -95.004935
- 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 Swartout
- 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Since Swartout is near San Jacinto County and also Liberty County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for San Jacinto County
- eBird sighting report for Liberty 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Swartout ...
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.
- Coldspring
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coldspring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldspring
- Coldspring is located in San Jacinto County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 950 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coldspring <2>
- Drews Landing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drews Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drews Landing
- Drews Landing is located in San Jacinto County
- Israel
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Liberty Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Liberty Hill is located in San Jacinto County
- Providence
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Polk County
- Rose Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Shepherd
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shepherd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd
- Shepherd is located in San Jacinto County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,424 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shepherd <2>
- Tigerville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tigerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigerville
- Tigerville is located in Polk County
- Tobacco Patch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tobacco Patch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobacco Patch
- Tobacco Patch is located in Polk County
- Wolf Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek
- Wolf Creek is located in San Jacinto County
How Far From Swartout 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 Swartout to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Swartout once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Swartout and extending to:
- Livingston, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 164 miles [263.9 km]<4> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Swartout to Austin, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,164 miles [1,873.3 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 7,027 miles [11,308.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,750 miles [12,472.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,625 miles [9,052.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Swartout, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Swartout) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swartout. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.6385, Longitude: -95.0049 In this case, the coordinates for Swartout have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Swartout 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 318.481 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.498 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.116 degrees. |