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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gabriel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gabriel 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 Gabriel:
    • 35.601191, -92.920448
    • 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 Gabriel
  • 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 Pope County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pope County
    • Since Gabriel is near Van Buren County and also Newton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Newton 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 Gabriel

Communities Also Named Gabriel ...

We found three communities that are also named Gabriel.

Within Arkansas, the name Gabriel is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Doniphan 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 Gabriel [Doniphan County].
    • Kentucky
      • Pike 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 Gabriel [Pike County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Cherokee County
      • This Gabriel is located in Cherokee County and lies 122 miles [196.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Gabriel that is located in Pope County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Gabriel.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gabriel ...

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.

  • Ben Hur
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Ben Hur is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Hur
  • Boiling Springs ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Boiling Springs is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Springs
  • Freeman Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Freeman Springs is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Springs
  • Hector
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Lost Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lost Corner is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Corner
  • Okay ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Okay is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okay
  • Raspberry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Raspberry is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raspberry
  • Solo
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Solo is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solo
  • Tag
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Tag is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tag
  • Walnut Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
  • Welcome
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Welcome is located in Pope County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
  • Zion Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Zion Hill is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Hill

How Far From Gabriel 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 Gabriel 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<4> community of Gabriel once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Gabriel and extending to:

  • Russellville, which is the Seat of Pope County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Gabriel to Russellville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 70 miles [112.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 900 miles [1,448.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,692 miles [10,769.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,424 miles [11,947.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,303 miles [8,534.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Gabriel 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gabriel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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 Gabriel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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.
<6>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 Gabriel 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 Gabriel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6012, Longitude: -92.9204       In this case, the coordinates for Gabriel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.673 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.20 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.513 degrees.