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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Light, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Light 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 Light:
    • 36.070069, -90.747892
    • 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 Light
  • 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 Greene County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Since Light is near Lawrence County and also Randolph County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph 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 Light

Communities Also Named Light ...

We found nine communities that are also named Light.

Within Arkansas, the name Light is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Geneva 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 Alabama community of Light [Geneva County].
    • Arizona
      • Cochise County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arizona community of Light [Cochise County].
    • Kansas
      • Smith County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Smith County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Light.
    • Missouri
      • Maries 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 Missouri community of Light [Maries County].
    • North Carolina
      • Davidson County
      • This Light is located in Davidson County and lies 595 miles [957.6 km]<3> to the east of the Light that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davidson County community of Light.
    • Tennessee
      • Wayne County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Light [Wayne County].
    • Texas
      • Howard 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 Texas community of Light [Howard County].
    • Virginia
      • Frederick County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Light [Frederick County].
    • West Virginia
      • Mingo 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 Light [Mingo County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Light ...

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.

  • Black Jack
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Black Jack is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
  • Commissary ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Commissary is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commissary
  • Ebenezer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ebenezer is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
  • Evening Star
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Evening Star is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evening Star
  • Fiftysix
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fiftysix is located in Craighead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiftysix
  • Finch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Finch is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finch
  • Pauls Switch
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pauls Switch is located in Craighead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauls Switch
  • Pine Knot
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Pine Knot is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Knot
  • Ponders
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ponders is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponders
  • Walnut Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Walnut Corner is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Corner
  • Whiskerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Whiskerville is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskerville

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

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

  • Paragould, which is the Seat of Greene County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<3> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Light to Paragould, with an average speed<4> 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 four to five hours.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 125 miles [201.2 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 775 miles [1,247.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 44 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,585 miles [10,597.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,314 miles [11,770.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,191 miles [8,354.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Light 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>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 Light, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Light) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Light 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 Light. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0701, Longitude: -90.7479       In this case, the coordinates for Light have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.297 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.667 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.448 degrees.