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

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Utopia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Utopia 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 Utopia:
    • 29.615227, -99.526993
    • 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 Utopia
  • 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 Uvalde County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Uvalde County
    • Since Utopia is near Medina County and also Bandera County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Medina County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bandera 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 Utopia

Communities Also Named Utopia ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Utopia.

Within Texas, the name Utopia is unique.

Beyond Texas, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alaska community of Utopia.
    • Florida
      • Broward County
      • This Utopia is located in Broward County and lies 1,205 miles [1,939.3 km]<2> to the east of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Broward County community of Utopia.
      • Sarasota County
      • This Utopia is located in Sarasota County and lies 1,053 miles [1,694.6 km] to the east of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sarasota County community of Utopia.
    • Illinois
      • DuPage County
      • This Utopia is located in DuPage County and lies 1,062 miles [1,709.1 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the DuPage County community of Utopia.
    • Kansas
      • Greenwood County
      • This Utopia is located in Greenwood County and lies 602 miles [968.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenwood County community of Utopia.
    • Louisiana
      • Lafourche Parish
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Utopia [Lafourche Parish].
    • New Brunswick
      • This Utopia lies 2,071 miles [3,333 km]<2> to the northeast of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
    • New York
      • Allegany County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Utopia [Allegany County].
      • Queens County
      • This Utopia is located in Queens County and lies 1,634 miles [2,629.7 km]<2> to the northeast of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Queens County community of Utopia.
    • Ohio
      • Clermont County
      • This Utopia is located in Clermont County and lies 1,084 miles [1,744.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clermont County community of Utopia.
    • Ontario
      • This Utopia lies 1,479 miles [2,380.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Utopia that is located in Uvalde County.
    • South Carolina
      • Newberry County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Utopia [Newberry County].
    • Tennessee
      • Rutherford County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Utopia [Rutherford County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Utopia ...

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.

  • First Crossing
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • First Crossing is located in Uvalde County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Crossing
  • Flatrock Crossing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Flatrock Crossing is located in Medina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatrock Crossing
  • Happy Hollow
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Happy Hollow is located in Uvalde County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hollow
  • Leakey
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Long Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Long Crossing is located in Uvalde County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Crossing
  • Second Crossing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Second Crossing is located in Uvalde County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Second Crossing
  • Third Crossing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Third Crossing is located in Uvalde County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Third Crossing
  • Trio
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Trio is located in Uvalde County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trio

How Far From Utopia 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 Utopia to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Utopia and extending to:

  • Uvalde, which is the Seat of Uvalde County, lies 32 miles [51.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Utopia to Uvalde, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 115 miles [185.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,429 miles [2,299.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 56 days and walking would take 82 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,255 miles [11,675.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,988 miles [12,855.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,866 miles [9,440.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Utopia 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Utopia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Utopia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Utopia 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 Utopia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6152, Longitude: -99.5270       In this case, the coordinates for Utopia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.309 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.707 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.143 degrees.