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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smithton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithton 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 Smithton:
    • 33.943158, -93.130448
    • 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 Smithton
  • 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 Clark County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clark County
    • Since Smithton is near Nevada County and also Ouachita County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Nevada County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ouachita 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 Smithton

Communities Also Named Smithton ...

We found eight communities that are also named Smithton.

Within Arkansas, the name Smithton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Smithton is located in Saint Clair County and lies 354 miles [569.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Smithton that is located in Clark County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Smithton.
    • Kansas
      • Norton 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 Smithton [Norton County].
    • Maine
      • Waldo County
      • This Smithton is located in Waldo County and lies 1,458 miles [2,346.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithton that is located in Clark County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Waldo County community of Smithton.
    • Missouri
      • Boone 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 Missouri community of Smithton [Boone County].
      • Mississippi 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 Missouri community of Smithton [Mississippi County].
      • Pettis County
      • This Smithton is located in Pettis County and lies 327 miles [526.3 km]<1> to the north of the Smithton that is located in Clark County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pettis County community of Smithton.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Smithton is located in Westmoreland County and lies 852 miles [1,371.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithton that is located in Clark County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Smithton.
    • West Virginia
      • Doddridge 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 West Virginia community of Smithton [Doddridge County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithton ...

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.

  • Central
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Central is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
  • Gum Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Gum Springs is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
  • Hebron ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Hebron is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Kansas
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Kansas is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas
  • Love Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Love Creek is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Love Creek
  • Native ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Native is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Native
  • Red Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Red Springs is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Springs
  • Richwoods
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Richwoods is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwoods
  • Shakertown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Shakertown is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shakertown

How Far From Smithton 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 Smithton 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 Smithton once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Smithton and extending to:

  • Arkadelphia, which is the Seat of Clark County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Smithton to Arkadelphia, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 73 miles [117.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 955 miles [1,536.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,784 miles [10,917.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,512 miles [12,089.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,389 miles [8,672.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Smithton) 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 Smithton 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 Smithton, 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 Smithton 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 Smithton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9432, Longitude: -93.1304       In this case, the coordinates for Smithton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.661 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.969 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.878 degrees.