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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dial, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dial 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 Dial:
    • 34.338998, -94.078811
    • 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 Dial
  • 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Dial is near Calhoun County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk 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 Dial

Communities Also Named Dial ...

We found seven communities that are also named Dial.

Within Arkansas, the name Dial is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Fannin County
      • This Dial is located in Fannin County and lies 561 miles [902.8 km]<1> to the east of the Dial that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fannin County community of Dial.
    • Kansas
      • Osborne 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 Dial [Osborne County].
    • North Carolina
      • Cumberland 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 Dial [Cumberland County].
    • Texas
      • Cherokee 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 Texas community of Dial [Cherokee County].
      • Fannin County
      • This Dial is located in Fannin County and lies 117 miles [188.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Dial that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fannin County community of Dial.
      • Hutchinson County
      • This Dial is located in Hutchinson County and lies 425 miles [684 km] to the west northwest of the Dial that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hutchinson County community of Dial.
    • West Virginia
      • Kanawha County
      • This Dial is located in Kanawha County and lies 753 miles [1,211.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Dial that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kanawha County community of Dial.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dial ...

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.

  • Brushy ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Brushy is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy
  • Cedar Hill ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Galena
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Galena is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
  • Henry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Henry is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
  • Mineola
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mineola is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineola
  • Pryor Ridge ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pryor Ridge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pryor Ridge
  • Rough Edge ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Rough Edge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rough Edge
  • Saline ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Saline is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline
  • Shady
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Shady is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady
  • Umpire
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Umpire is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umpire

How Far From Dial 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 Dial 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 Dial once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Dial and extending to:

  • Nashville, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Dial to Nashville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 106 miles [170.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 993 miles [1,598.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 57 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,800 miles [10,943.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,532 miles [12,121.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,410 miles [8,706.6 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dial) 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 Dial 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 Dial, 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 Dial 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 Dial. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3390, Longitude: -94.0788       In this case, the coordinates for Dial have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.318 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.787 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.238 degrees.