RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Hidalgo County >> Sylvia >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

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.

  • 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.
    • Open 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:
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Sylvia

Communities Also Named Sylvia ...

We found five communities that are also named Sylvia.

Within Texas, the name Sylvia is unique.

Beyond Texas, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Marion County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Sylvia [Marion County].
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Sylvia is located in Hillsborough County and lies 961 miles [1,546.6 km]<2> to the east of the Sylvia that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Sylvia.
    • Kansas
      • Reno County
      • This Sylvia is located in Reno County and lies 811 miles [1,305.2 km]<2> to the north of the Sylvia that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reno County community of Sylvia.
    • Tennessee
      • Dickson County
      • This Sylvia is located in Dickson County and lies 927 miles [1,491.9 km]<2> to the northeast of the Sylvia that is located in Hidalgo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickson County community of Sylvia.
    • West Virginia
      • Roane County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Sylvia [Roane County].

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)
    • Big John is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big John
    • Big John has also been known as:
    • Big John Colonia
  • Catherine
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Catherine is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine
    • Catherine has also been known as:
    • Catherine Colonia
  • Delta Court
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Delta Court is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta Court
    • Delta Court has also been known as:
    • Delta Court Colonia
  • Flora
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Flora is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
    • Flora has also been known as:
    • Flora Colonia
  • High Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • High Point is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • High Point has also been known as:
    • High Point Colonia
  • Indian Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Matt
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Matt is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matt
    • Matt has also been known as:
    • Matt Colonia
  • Rebecca
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Rebecca is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rebecca
    • Rebecca has also been known as:
    • Rebecca Colonia
  • Rosedale Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosedale Heights is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Heights
    • Rosedale Heights has also been known as:
    • Rosedale Heights Colonia
  • Sunrise Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Sunrise Hill is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Hill
    • 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 & 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 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<4> 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<5> 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).<6>
  • 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).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,969 miles [9,606.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 '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- Sylvia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 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>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.
<5>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.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).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.667 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.327 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.672 degrees.