RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Van Buren County >> Chalk >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Chalk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chalk 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 Chalk:
    • 35.541744, -92.247098
    • 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 Chalk
  • 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 Van Buren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
    • Since Chalk is near Cleburne County and also Stone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cleburne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stone 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 Chalk

Communities Also Named Chalk ...

We found two communities that are also named Chalk.

Within Arkansas, the name Chalk is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Wabaunsee County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Chalk [Wabaunsee County].
    • Texas
      • Cottle County
      • This Chalk is located in Cottle County and lies 466 miles [750 km]<2> to the west of the Chalk that is located in Van Buren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cottle County community of Chalk.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Chalk ...

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.

  • Brewer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Brewer is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewer
  • Choctaw Pines
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Choctaw Pines is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw Pines
  • Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Crossroads is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Green Tree
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Green Tree is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Tree
  • Kinderhook ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Kinderhook is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinderhook
  • Lone Pine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Lone Pine is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
  • Lower Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lower Ferry is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Ferry
  • Poe ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Poe is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poe
  • Post Oak
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Post Oak is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak
  • Settlement ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Settlement is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlement
  • Sulphur Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Sunny Slope
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunny Slope is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Slope
  • Whispering Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Whispering Springs is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Springs

How Far From Chalk 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 Chalk 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<3> community of Chalk once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Chalk and extending to:

  • Clinton, which is the Seat of Van Buren County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Chalk to Clinton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 55 miles [88.5 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 866 miles [1,393.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,669 miles [10,732.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,400 miles [11,909.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,277 miles [8,492.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Chalk 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chalk) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Chalk, 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 Chalk 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 Chalk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5417, Longitude: -92.2471       In this case, the coordinates for Chalk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.229 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.677 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.219 degrees.