Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West
- 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 West:
- 31.803030, -97.094519
- 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 West
- 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 McLennan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McLennan County
- Since West is near Hill County and also Bosque County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hill County
- eBird sighting report for Bosque 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 West ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name West.
Within Texas, the name West is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Holmes County
- This West is located in Holmes County and lies 436 miles [701.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the West that is located in McLennan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holmes County community of West.
- Lauderdale 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 Mississippi community of West [Lauderdale County].
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Davidson County
- This West is located in Davidson County and lies 659 miles [1,060.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the West that is located in McLennan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davidson County community of West.
- Gibson County
- This West is located in Gibson County and lies 553 miles [890 km] to the east northeast of the West that is located in McLennan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gibson County community of West.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near West ...
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.
- Cottonwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Cottonwood is located in McLennan County
- Elm Mott
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mott
- Elm Mott is located in McLennan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elm Mott <5>
- Lacy - Lakeview
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lacy - Lakeview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacy - Lakeview
- Lacy - Lakeview is located in McLennan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,803 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacy - Lakeview <5>
- Leroy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leroy have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leroy
- Leroy is located in McLennan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leroy <5>
- Mount Calm
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Calm have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Calm
- Mount Calm is located in Hill County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 340 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Calm <5>
- Patrick
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Penelope
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penelope
- Penelope is located in Hill County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Penelope <5>
- Rock Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Rock Creek is located in McLennan County
- Rogers Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rogers Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers Hill
- Rogers Hill is located in McLennan County
- Tours
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tours
- Tours is located in McLennan County
How Far From West 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 city such as West to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West and extending to:
- Waco, which is the Seat of McLennan County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from West to Waco, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 112 miles [180.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 1,227 miles [1,974.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 70 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,047 miles [11,341 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,779 miles [12,519.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,657 miles [9,104.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for McLennan County: www.co.mclennan.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- West) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.8030, Longitude: -97.0945 In this case, the coordinates for West have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 West, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 West 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 West to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.011 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.445 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.896 degrees. |