Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Key, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Key and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Key
- 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 Key:
- 36.302852, -94.018256
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Key
- 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 Benton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Benton County
- Since Key is near Washington County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Madison 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Key ...
We found ten communities that share the name Key.
Within Arkansas, the name Key is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Ohio
- Saskatchewan
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Key ...
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.
- Beaver Shores
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Shores
- Beaver Shores is located in Benton County
- Disney Ferry
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Disney Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Disney Ferry
- Disney Ferry is located in Benton County
- Hickory Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Creek
- Hickory Creek is located in Benton County
- Oak Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Pleasant Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
- Pleasant Ridge is located in Benton County
- Pleasure Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasure Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasure Heights
- Pleasure Heights is located in Benton County
- Prairie Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Creek
- Prairie Creek is located in Benton County
- Silver Springs ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
- Silver Springs is located in Benton County
- Tanglewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tanglewood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
- Tanglewood is located in Benton County
- Van Winkle Ferry
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Van Winkle Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Winkle Ferry
- Van Winkle Ferry is located in Benton County
- War Eagle
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War Eagle
- War Eagle is located in Benton County
How Far From Key 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 Key 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 Key once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Key and extending to:
- Bentonville, which is the Seat of Benton County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Key to Bentonville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 146 miles [235 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 944 miles [1,519.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,697 miles [10,777.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,434 miles [11,963.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,315 miles [8,553.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Benton County: www.co.benton.ar.us/
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Key) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Key. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3029, Longitude: -94.0183 In this case, the coordinates for Key have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Key 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 Key, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Key to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.455 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.201 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.897 degrees. |