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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Westhaven, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Westhaven and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Westhaven:
    • 29.865774, -98.277791
    • 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 Westhaven
  • 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 Comal County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Comal County
    • Since Westhaven is near Hays County and also Blanco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hays County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blanco 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 Westhaven

Communities Also Named Westhaven ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Westhaven.

Within Texas, the name Westhaven is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Fresno County
      • This Westhaven is located in Fresno County and lies 1,327 miles [2,135.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fresno County community of Westhaven.
      • Humboldt County
      • This Westhaven is located in Humboldt County and lies 1,636 miles [2,632.9 km] to the northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humboldt County community of Westhaven.
    • Colorado
      • Jefferson County
      • This Westhaven is located in Jefferson County and lies 785 miles [1,263.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Westhaven.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Westhaven [Cook County].
    • North Carolina
      • Harnett County
      • This Westhaven is located in Harnett County and lies 1,202 miles [1,934.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harnett County community of Westhaven.
      • Pitt County
      • This Westhaven is located in Pitt County and lies 1,272 miles [2,047.1 km] to the east northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pitt County community of Westhaven.
    • Ohio
      • Lucas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Westhaven [Lucas County].
    • South Carolina
      • Spartanburg County
      • This Westhaven is located in Spartanburg County and lies 1,010 miles [1,625.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Westhaven.
      • Sumter County
      • This Westhaven is located in Sumter County and lies 1,084 miles [1,744.5 km] to the east northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Westhaven.
    • Virginia
      • Portsmouth City
      • This Westhaven is located in Portsmouth City and lies 1,348 miles [2,169.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portsmouth City community of Westhaven.
    • Washington
      • Grays Harbor County
      • This Westhaven is located in Grays Harbor County and lies 1,812 miles [2,916.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Comal County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grays Harbor County community of Westhaven.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westhaven ...

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.

  • Buffalo Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Buffalo Springs is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
  • Cranes Mill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cranes Mill is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranes Mill
  • First Crossing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • First Crossing is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Crossing
  • Fourth Crossing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fourth Crossing is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourth Crossing
  • Royal Forest
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Royal Forest is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Forest
  • Second Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Second Crossing is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Second Crossing
  • Spring Branch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Startzville
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Startzville is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Startzville
  • Third Crossing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Third Crossing is located in Comal County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Third Crossing

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

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

  • New Braunfels, which is the Seat of Comal County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Westhaven to New Braunfels, with an average speed<4> 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 four to five hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 42 miles [67.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,357 miles [2,183.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 53 days and walking would take 78 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,195 miles [11,579.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,925 miles [12,754.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,801 miles [9,335.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Westhaven) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Westhaven 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.
<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 Westhaven 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 Westhaven. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8658, Longitude: -98.2778       In this case, the coordinates for Westhaven have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.511 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.792 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.581 degrees.