Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Baird, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Baird and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Baird
- 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 Baird:
- 47.620143, -119.469759
- 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 Baird
- 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- Since Baird is near Grant County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grant County
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Baird ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Baird.
Within Washington, the name Baird is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Ontario
- This Baird lies 1,379 miles [2,219.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Baird that is located in Douglas County.
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Baird ...
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.
- Bacon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Dry Falls Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dry Falls Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Falls Junction
- Dry Falls Junction is located in Douglas County
- Farmer ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Fordair
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Hartline
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartline
- Hartline is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartline <5>
- Lakeview
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south) - Lakeview Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeview Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Park
- Lakeview Park is located in Grant County
- Mold ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mold
- Mold is located in Douglas County
- Soap Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soap Lake
- Soap Lake is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,608 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Soap Lake <5>
How Far From Baird 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 community such as Baird to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Baird once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Baird and extending to:
- Waterville, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Baird to Waterville, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 165 miles [265.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,187 miles [3,519.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 86 days and walking would take 125 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,726 miles [10,824.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,491 miles [12,055.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,586 miles [8,989.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Douglas County: www.douglascountywa.net/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/
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 Baird, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Baird) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Baird. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6201, Longitude: -119.4698 In this case, the coordinates for Baird have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Baird 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 Baird 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 338.513 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.694 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.886 degrees. |