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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elmo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elmo 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 Elmo:
    • 35.620912, -91.391798
    • 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 Elmo
  • 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 Independence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Independence County
    • Since Elmo is near Jackson County and also White County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for White 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 Elmo

Communities Also Named Elmo ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Elmo.

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

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

  • Communities Located In Arkansas ...
    • Crittenden 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 Arkansas community of Elmo [Crittenden County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Kern County
      • This Elmo is located in Kern County and lies 1,562 miles [2,513.8 km]<2> to the west of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Elmo.
    • Georgia
      • Coffee 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 Georgia community of Elmo [Coffee County].
    • Kansas
      • Dickinson County
      • This Elmo is located in Dickinson County and lies 384 miles [618 km]<2> to the northwest of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickinson County community of Elmo.
    • Kentucky
      • Christian 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 Kentucky community of Elmo [Christian County].
    • Maine
      • Aroostook 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 Maine community of Elmo [Aroostook County].
    • Mississippi
      • Jefferson County
      • This Elmo is located in Jefferson County and lies 277 miles [445.8 km]<2> to the south of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Elmo.
    • Missouri
      • Nodaway County
      • This Elmo is located in Nodaway County and lies 394 miles [634.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nodaway County community of Elmo.
    • Montana
      • Lake County
      • This Elmo is located in Lake County and lies 1,443 miles [2,322.3 km]<2> to the northwest of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Elmo.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Elmo is located in Clarion County and lies 749 miles [1,205.4 km]<2> to the northeast of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Elmo.
    • Texas
      • Kaufman County
      • This Elmo is located in Kaufman County and lies 338 miles [544 km]<2> to the southwest of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kaufman County community of Elmo.
    • Utah
      • Emery County
      • This Elmo is located in Emery County and lies 1,092 miles [1,757.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Emery County community of Elmo.
    • Virginia
      • Halifax County
      • This Elmo is located in Halifax County and lies 687 miles [1,105.6 km]<2> to the east of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Halifax County community of Elmo.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette 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 West Virginia community of Elmo [Fayette County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Grant County
      • This Elmo is located in Grant County and lies 487 miles [783.8 km]<2> to the north of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Elmo.
    • Wyoming
      • Carbon County
      • This Elmo is located in Carbon County and lies 921 miles [1,482.2 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Elmo that is located in Independence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of Elmo.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elmo ...

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.

  • Coffeeville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Coffeeville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffeeville
  • Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Crossroads is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Departe ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Departe is located in Independence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Departe
  • Horseshoe
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Horseshoe is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
  • Island Town
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Island Town is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Town
  • Macks
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Macks is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macks
  • Maple Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Maple Springs is located in Independence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Springs
  • Nuckles
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Nuckles is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nuckles
  • Olyphant
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Olyphant is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olyphant
  • Union Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Union Hill is located in Independence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill

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

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

  • Batesville, which is the Seat of Independence County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elmo to Batesville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 78 miles [125.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 819 miles [1,318.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,632 miles [10,673.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,361 miles [11,846.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,238 miles [8,429.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 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 Elmo 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Elmo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Elmo 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 Elmo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6209, Longitude: -91.3918       In this case, the coordinates for Elmo have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.681 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.051 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.822 degrees.