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

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.

  • 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.
    • Open 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:
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Key

Communities Also Named Key ...

We found ten communities that are also named Key.

Within Arkansas, the name Key is unique.

Beyond Arkansas, we know of ten communities that are located 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
      • Cherokee County
      • This Key is located in Cherokee County and lies 501 miles [806.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Key that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Key.
    • Georgia
      • Brooks 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 Georgia community of Key [Brooks County].
    • Iowa
      • Bremer 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 Iowa community of Key [Bremer County].
    • Kansas
      • Cloud 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 Kansas community of Key [Cloud County].
    • Ohio
      • Belmont County
      • This Key is located in Belmont County and lies 756 miles [1,216.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Key that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of Key.
    • Saskatchewan
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • South Carolina
      • Marlboro 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 South Carolina community of Key [Marlboro County].
    • Tennessee
      • White 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 Tennessee community of Key [White County].
    • Texas
      • Dawson County
      • This Key is located in Dawson County and lies 506 miles [814.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Key that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dawson County community of Key.
    • West Virginia
      • Pendleton 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 West Virginia community of Key [Pendleton County].

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)
    • Beaver Shores is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Shores
  • Disney Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Disney Ferry is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Disney Ferry
  • Hickory Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hickory Creek is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Creek
  • Oak Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Pleasure Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Pleasure Heights is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasure Heights
  • Prairie Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Prairie Creek is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Creek
  • Silver Springs ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver Springs is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
  • Tanglewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Tanglewood is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
  • Van Winkle Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Van Winkle Ferry is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Winkle Ferry
  • War Eagle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • War Eagle is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War Eagle

How Far From Key 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 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<4> 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<5> 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).<6>
  • 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).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,315 miles [8,553.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' 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. 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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>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 Key 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 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).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.455 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.201 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.897 degrees.