RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Saline County >> Bland >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bland 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 Bland:
    • 34.687036, -92.687942
    • 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 Bland
  • 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 Saline County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saline County
    • Since Bland is near Pulaski County and also Garland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pulaski County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Garland 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 Bland

Communities Also Named Bland ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Bland.

There is one other community in Arkansas that is also named Bland.

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

  • Communities Located In Arkansas ...
    • Benton County
      • This Bland is located in Benton County and lies 133 miles [214 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Bland that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Bland.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Elbert 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 Colorado community of Bland [Elbert County].
    • Florida
      • Alachua County
      • This Bland is located in Alachua County and lies 679 miles [1,092.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Bland that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alachua County community of Bland.
    • Georgia
      • Bulloch County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Bland [Bulloch County].
    • Kansas
      • Bourbon County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Bourbon County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bourbon County community of Bland.
      • Reno County
      • This community is historic and although located in Reno County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reno County community of Bland.
    • Missouri
      • Gasconade County
      • This Bland is located in Gasconade County and lies 256 miles [412 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Bland that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gasconade County community of Bland.
    • New Mexico
      • Sandoval County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Bland [Sandoval County].
    • North Carolina
      • Sampson 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 North Carolina community of Bland [Sampson County].
    • Texas
      • Bell County
      • This Bland is located in Bell County and lies 368 miles [592.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Bland that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bell County community of Bland.
      • Orange County
      • This Bland is located in Orange County and lies 323 miles [519.8 km] to the south southwest of the Bland that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Bland.
    • Virginia
      • Bland County
      • This Bland is located in Bland County and lies 667 miles [1,073.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bland that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bland County community of Bland.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bland ...

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.

  • Alum ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Alum is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alum
  • Cold Springs ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cold Springs is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Congo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Congo is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo
  • Crows
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Crows is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crows
  • Fairplay ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Fairplay is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplay
  • Ferndale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ferndale is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
  • Grape
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Grape is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape
  • Holly Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Holly Springs is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • Kentucky
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Kentucky is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentucky
  • Reform
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Reform is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reform
  • Rubicon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rubicon is located in Saline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubicon

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

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

  • Benton, which is the Seat of Saline County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bland to Benton, 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.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 24 miles [38.6 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 911 miles [1,466.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,729 miles [10,829.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,459 miles [12,004.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,336 miles [8,587.5 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- Bland) 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 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 Bland 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 Bland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Bland 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 Bland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6870, Longitude: -92.6879       In this case, the coordinates for Bland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.444 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.813 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.563 degrees.