RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Hillsborough County >> Balm >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Balm, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balm 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 Balm:
    • 27.759203, -82.261122
    • 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 Balm
  • 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 Hillsborough County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hillsborough County
    • Since Balm is near Manatee County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manatee County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk 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 Balm

Communities Also Named Balm ...

We found five communities that are also named Balm.

Within Florida, the name Balm is unique.

Beyond Florida, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Blount 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 Balm [Blount County].
    • Missouri
      • Cedar 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 Balm [Cedar County].
    • North Carolina
      • Avery County
      • This Balm is located in Avery County and lies 581 miles [935 km]<2> to the north of the Balm that is located in Hillsborough County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Avery County community of Balm.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Mercer 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 Pennsylvania community of Balm [Mercer County].
    • Texas
      • Cooke County
      • This Balm is located in Cooke County and lies 964 miles [1,551.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Balm that is located in Hillsborough County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cooke County community of Balm.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Balm ...

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.

  • Carter Country
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Carter Country is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter Country
  • Covewood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Covewood is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covewood
  • Creekside
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Creekside is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creekside
  • Jones
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jones is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones
  • Panther Trace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Panther Trace is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Trace
  • Pine Trace
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Trace is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Trace
  • Ranch Lands
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Ranch Lands is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranch Lands
  • Shadow Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Shadow Ridge is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Ridge
  • Shadow Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Shadow Run is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Run
  • Shady Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Shady Cove is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Cove
  • Shady Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Shady Oaks is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Oaks
  • Summer Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Summer Springs is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Springs
  • Summerview Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Summerview Oaks is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerview Oaks
  • Sweat Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sweat Farms is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweat Farms

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

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

  • Tampa, which is the Seat of Hillsborough County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Balm to Tampa, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 221 miles [355.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 825 miles [1,327.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,618 miles [10,650.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,285 miles [11,724.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,186 miles [8,346.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Balm 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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Balm) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Balm 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 Balm. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.7592, Longitude: -82.2611    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.71 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.062 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.867 degrees.