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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smithdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithdale and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Smithdale:
    • 35.260921, -90.523160
    • 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 Smithdale
  • 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 Cross County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cross County
    • Since Smithdale is near Crittenden County and also Saint Francis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Crittenden County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Francis 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 Smithdale

Communities Also Named Smithdale ...

We found seven communities that are also named Smithdale.

Within Arkansas, the name Smithdale is unique.

Beyond Arkansas, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cullman County
      • This Smithdale is located in Cullman County and lies 220 miles [354.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Smithdale that is located in Cross County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cullman County community of Smithdale.
    • Illinois
      • Livingston County
      • This Smithdale is located in Livingston County and lies 413 miles [664.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Smithdale that is located in Cross County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Smithdale.
    • Mississippi
      • Amite County
      • This Smithdale is located in Amite County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<1> to the south of the Smithdale that is located in Cross County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amite County community of Smithdale.
    • Ohio
      • Harrison 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 Ohio community of Smithdale [Harrison County].
    • Ontario
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Smithdale.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Smithdale is located in Allegheny County and lies 678 miles [1,091.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Smithdale that is located in Cross County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Smithdale.
    • Texas
      • Childress County
      • This Smithdale is located in Childress County and lies 549 miles [883.5 km]<1> to the west of the Smithdale that is located in Cross County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Childress County community of Smithdale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithdale ...

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.

  • Coldwater
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Coldwater is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
  • Dixie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Dixie is located in Crittenden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
  • Flag Lake Crossing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Flag Lake Crossing is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flag Lake Crossing
  • Grassy Lake Bottom
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Grassy Lake Bottom is located in Crittenden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Lake Bottom
  • Love Place
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Love Place is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Love Place
  • Princedale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Princedale is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princedale
  • Rose Place
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Rose Place is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Place
  • Three Forks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Three Forks is located in Crittenden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
  • Twist
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Twist is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twist
  • Twist Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Twist Ferry is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twist Ferry
  • Wildcat ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wildcat is located in Crittenden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildcat

How Far From Smithdale to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Smithdale to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Wynne, which is the Seat of Cross County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Smithdale to Wynne, 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 104 miles [167.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 783 miles [1,260.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,617 miles [10,649 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,342 miles [11,815.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,218 miles [8,397.6 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 from Point A (ie- Smithdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Smithdale, 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 Smithdale 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>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 Smithdale 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 Smithdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.2609, Longitude: -90.5232       In this case, the coordinates for Smithdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.098 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.328 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.506 degrees.