RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Drew County >> Valley Junction >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Valley Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Valley Junction 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 Valley Junction:
    • 33.445391, -91.793741
    • 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 Valley Junction
  • 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 Drew County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Drew County
    • Since Valley Junction is near Ashley County and also Bradley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ashley County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bradley 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 Valley Junction

Communities Also Named Valley Junction ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Valley Junction.

Within Arkansas, the name Valley Junction is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Shelby County
      • This Valley Junction is located in Shelby County and lies 287 miles [461.9 km]<1> to the east of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Valley Junction.
    • Illinois
      • Saint Clair 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 Illinois community of Valley Junction [Saint Clair County].
    • Iowa
      • Polk County
      • This Valley Junction is located in Polk County and lies 570 miles [917.3 km]<1> to the north of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Valley Junction.
    • North Dakota
      • LaMoure 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 North Dakota community of Valley Junction [LaMoure County].
    • Ohio
      • Hamilton County
      • This Valley Junction is located in Hamilton County and lies 555 miles [893.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Valley Junction.
      • Tuscarawas County
      • This Valley Junction is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 755 miles [1,215.1 km] to the northeast of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Valley Junction.
    • Oregon
      • Polk County
      • This Valley Junction is located in Polk County and lies 1,862 miles [2,996.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Valley Junction.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lackawanna 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 Pennsylvania community of Valley Junction [Lackawanna County].
      • York County
      • This Valley Junction is located in York County and lies 934 miles [1,503.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Valley Junction.
    • Texas
      • Robertson County
      • This Valley Junction is located in Robertson County and lies 335 miles [539.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Robertson County community of Valley Junction.
    • Wisconsin
      • Monroe County
      • This Valley Junction is located in Monroe County and lies 736 miles [1,184.5 km]<1> to the north of the Valley Junction that is located in Drew County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Valley Junction.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Valley Junction ...

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.

  • Carpenter
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Carpenter is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
  • Fountain Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountain Hill is located in Ashley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Hill
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
  • Goose Hollow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Goose Hollow is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Hollow
  • Lacey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lacey is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
  • Lewis
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Lewis is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
  • Lone Sasafras ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lone Sasafras is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Sasafras
  • Paradise ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Paradise is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
  • Prairie Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Prairie Grove is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
  • Red Neck ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Neck is located in Drew County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Neck

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

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

  • Monticello, which is the Seat of Drew County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Valley Junction to Monticello, with an average speed<3> 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 93 miles [149.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 903 miles [1,453.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,757 miles [10,874.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,480 miles [12,037.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,356 miles [8,619.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Valley Junction) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Valley Junction 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>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.
<4>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 Valley Junction 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 Valley Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4454, Longitude: -91.7937       In this case, the coordinates for Valley Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.756 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.849 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.378 degrees.