Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Melbourne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melbourne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Melbourne
- 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 Melbourne:
- 36.059197, -91.907048
- 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 Melbourne
- 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 Izard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Izard County
- Since Melbourne is near Independence County and also Stone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Independence County
- eBird sighting report for Stone 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 Melbourne ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Melbourne.
Within Arkansas, the name Melbourne is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eight are located in the United States and four are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Manitoba
- This Melbourne lies 1,021 miles [1,643.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Melbourne that is located in Izard County.
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nova Scotia
- This Melbourne lies 1,461 miles [2,351.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Melbourne that is located in Izard County.
- Ontario
- This Melbourne lies 721 miles [1,160.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Melbourne that is located in Izard County.
- Quebec
- Tennessee
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Melbourne ...
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.
- Bone Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Jett ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Jumbo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Knob Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knob Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob Creek
- Knob Creek is located in Izard County
- LaCrosse
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaCrosse
- LaCrosse is located in Izard County
- Lone Star
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Sage
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sage
- Sage is located in Izard County
- Twin Bridges
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Bridges have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Bridges
- Twin Bridges is located in Izard County
- Violet Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Violet Hill
- Violet Hill is located in Izard County
- Zion
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
How Far From Melbourne 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 city such as Melbourne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Melbourne and extending to:
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Melbourne to Little Rock, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 837 miles [1,347 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,630 miles [10,670 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,361 miles [11,846.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,239 miles [8,431.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Melbourne: www.melbournear.com/
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Melbourne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melbourne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0592, Longitude: -91.9070 |
| <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 Melbourne, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Melbourne 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. |
| <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 Melbourne 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 317.046 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.534 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.971 degrees. |