Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Athens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Athens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Athens
- 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 Athens:
- 37.949245, -84.364101
- 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 Athens
- 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Athens is near Clark County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clark County
- eBird sighting report for Madison 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 Athens ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Athens.
Within Kentucky, the name Athens is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another 28 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 28 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Jewell 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 Kansas community of Athens [Jewell County].
- Woodson County
- This Athens is located in Woodson County and lies 612 miles [984.9 km]<1> to the west of the Athens that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodson County community of Athens.
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Ontario
- This Athens lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Athens that is located in Fayette County.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Athens ...
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 Grass
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Grass have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Grass
- Blue Grass is located in Madison County
- Centerville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Fayette County
- Chilesburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chilesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilesburg
- Chilesburg is located in Fayette County
- Columbus
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Ford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford
- Ford is located in Clark County
- Forest Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Forest Grove is located in Clark County
- Gamesway
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Hootentown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hootentown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hootentown
- Hootentown is located in Clark County
- Idle Hour
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Jonestown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Locust Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
- Locust Grove is located in Clark County
- Pricetown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Providence
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Clark County
- Spears
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Walnut Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Walnut Hill is located in Fayette County
- Jonestown
How Far From Athens 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 Athens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Athens and extending to:
- Lexington, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Athens to Lexington, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 32 miles [51.5 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 401 miles [645.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,243 miles [10,047.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,962 miles [11,204.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,837 miles [7,784.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Athens. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Athens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9492, Longitude: -84.3641 In this case, the coordinates for Athens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Athens 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> | 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 Athens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Athens to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.339 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.372 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.173 degrees. |