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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Watauga, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watauga 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 Watauga:
    • 32.871795, -97.251421
    • 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 Watauga
  • 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 Tarrant County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tarrant County
    • Since Watauga is near Denton County and also Dallas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Denton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas 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 Watauga

Communities Also Named Watauga ...

We found six communities that are also named Watauga.

Within Texas, the name Watauga is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Clark 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 Kentucky community of Watauga [Clark County].
      • Clinton County
      • This Watauga is located in Clinton County and lies 741 miles [1,192.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Watauga that is located in Tarrant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clinton County community of Watauga.
    • North Carolina
      • Macon 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 North Carolina community of Watauga [Macon County].
    • South Dakota
      • Corson County
      • This Watauga is located in Corson County and lies 929 miles [1,495.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Watauga that is located in Tarrant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Corson County community of Watauga.
    • Tennessee
      • Carter County
      • This Watauga is located in Carter County and lies 882 miles [1,419.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Watauga that is located in Tarrant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carter County community of Watauga.
    • Virginia
      • Washington County
      • This Watauga is located in Washington County and lies 906 miles [1,458.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Watauga that is located in Tarrant County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Watauga.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Watauga ...

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.

  • Blue Mound
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Eagle Mountain
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Eagle Mountain is located in Tarrant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mountain
  • Elizabethtown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Elizabethtown is located in Denton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
  • Grapevine
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake Worth
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Lakeview
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Lakeview is located in Tarrant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Marshall Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Marshall Creek is located in Denton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Creek
  • Melody Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Melody Hills is located in Tarrant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melody Hills
  • Minters Chapel ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Minters Chapel is located in Tarrant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minters Chapel
  • Trophy Club
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • University Park Village
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Fort Worth, which is the Seat of Tarrant County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Watauga to Fort Worth, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 182 miles [292.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,201 miles [1,932.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 69 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,996 miles [11,259 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,732 miles [12,443.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,611 miles [9,030 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Watauga 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 '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- Watauga) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Watauga 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 Watauga. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8718, Longitude: -97.2514       In this case, the coordinates for Watauga have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.257 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.87 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.854 degrees.