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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elon 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 Elon:
    • 33.036237, -91.852906
    • 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 Elon
  • 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 Ashley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ashley County
    • Since Elon is near Morehouse Parish and also Union Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morehouse Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union Parish
  • 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 Elon

Communities Also Named Elon ...

We found six communities that are also named Elon.

Within Arkansas, the name Elon is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Madison County
      • This Elon is located in Madison County and lies 325 miles [523 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Elon that is located in Ashley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Elon.
    • Indiana
      • Orange 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 Indiana community of Elon [Orange County].
    • Iowa
      • Allamakee County
      • This Elon is located in Allamakee County and lies 706 miles [1,136.2 km]<1> to the north of the Elon that is located in Ashley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allamakee County community of Elon.
    • Mississippi
      • Noxubee 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 Mississippi community of Elon [Noxubee County].
    • North Carolina
      • Alamance County
      • This Elon is located in Alamance County and lies 732 miles [1,178 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Elon that is located in Ashley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alamance County community of Elon.
    • Virginia
      • Amherst County
      • This Elon is located in Amherst County and lies 776 miles [1,248.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Elon that is located in Ashley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amherst County community of Elon.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elon ...

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.

  • Berlin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Berlin is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
  • Bovine
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Bovine is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bovine
  • Brushy ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brushy is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy
  • Gulledge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Gulledge is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulledge
  • Meridian
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Meridian is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
  • Oak Landing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Landing is located in Morehouse Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Landing
  • Plantersville ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Plantersville is located in Morehouse Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantersville
  • Rogers
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Rogers is located in Morehouse Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
  • Sulphur Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Twin Oaks
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Twin Oaks is located in Morehouse Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
  • Unity
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Unity is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity

How Far From Elon to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Elon 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 Elon once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Elon and extending to:

  • Hamburg, which is the Seat of Ashley County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Elon to Hamburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 119 miles [191.5 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 920 miles [1,480.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 53 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,780 miles [10,911.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,502 miles [12,073.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,377 miles [8,653.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Elon) 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 Elon 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 Elon, 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 Elon 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 Elon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0362, Longitude: -91.8529       In this case, the coordinates for Elon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.754 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.792 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.469 degrees.