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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ellen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ellen 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 Ellen:
    • 35.143421, -91.591800
    • 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 Ellen
  • 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 White County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for White County
    • Since Ellen is near Prairie County and also Woodruff County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prairie County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Woodruff 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 Ellen

Communities Also Named Ellen ...

We found four communities that are also named Ellen.

Within Arkansas, the name Ellen is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Fulton County
      • This Ellen is located in Fulton County and lies 417 miles [671.1 km]<1> to the east of the Ellen that is located in White County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Ellen.
    • Kansas
      • Osage County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Osage County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Osage County community of Ellen.
    • Kentucky
      • Lawrence County
      • This Ellen is located in Lawrence County and lies 529 miles [851.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ellen that is located in White County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Ellen.
    • Texas
      • Hale County
      • This Ellen is located in Hale County and lies 575 miles [925.4 km]<1> to the west of the Ellen that is located in White County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hale County community of Ellen.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ellen ...

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.

  • Barber ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Barber is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber
  • Defiance ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Defiance is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
  • Georgetown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Georgetown is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
  • Gum Springs ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gum Springs is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Happy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Happy is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy
  • Hicksville ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hicksville is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
  • Jasmine
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jasmine is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jasmine
  • Liberty Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Liberty Valley is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Valley
  • Pryor
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pryor is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pryor

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

  • Searcy, which is the Seat of White County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ellen to Searcy, with an average speed<3> 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 47 miles [75.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 842 miles [1,355.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,664 miles [10,724.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,392 miles [11,896.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,268 miles [8,478 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Ellen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Ellen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 Ellen 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 Ellen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1434, Longitude: -91.5918       In this case, the coordinates for Ellen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.774 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.095 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.999 degrees.