Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sylvia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sylvia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sylvia
- 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 Sylvia:
- 26.214240, -97.985281
- 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 Sylvia
- 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- Since Sylvia is near Cameron County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cameron County
- eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 Sylvia ...
We found five communities that share the name Sylvia.
Within Texas, the name Sylvia is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Kansas
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sylvia ...
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.
- Big John
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Catherine
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Delta Court
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Delta Court have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta Court
- Delta Court is located in Hidalgo County
- Delta Court has also been known as:
- Delta Court Colonia
- Flora
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - High Point
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- High Point is located in Hidalgo County
- High Point has also been known as:
- High Point Colonia
- Indian Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
- Matt
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Rebecca
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Rosedale Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosedale Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Heights
- Rosedale Heights is located in Hidalgo County
- Rosedale Heights has also been known as:
- Rosedale Heights Colonia
- Sunrise Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Hill
- Sunrise Hill is located in Hidalgo County
- Sunrise Hill has also been known as:
- Sunrise Hill Colonia
How Far From Sylvia to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sylvia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sylvia and extending to:
- Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sylvia to Edinburg, 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 280 miles [450.6 km] to the north (N). 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 1,495 miles [2,406 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 85 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,377 miles [11,872.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,094 miles [13,026 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,969 miles [9,606.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sylvia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Sylvia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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- Sylvia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sylvia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2142, Longitude: -97.9853 In this case, the coordinates for Sylvia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Sylvia 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 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 Sylvia 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 319.667 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.327 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.672 degrees. |