RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Georgia >> Fannin County >> Dial >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dial, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dial 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 Dial:
    • 34.759808, -84.216860
    • 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 Dial
  • 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 Fannin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fannin County
    • Since Dial is near Gilmer County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gilmer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union 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 Dial

Communities Also Named Dial ...

We found seven communities that are also named Dial.

Within Georgia, the name Dial is unique.

Beyond Georgia, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Howard County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Dial [Howard County].
    • Kansas
      • Osborne 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 Dial [Osborne County].
    • North Carolina
      • Cumberland 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 Carolina community of Dial [Cumberland County].
    • Texas
      • Cherokee 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 Texas community of Dial [Cherokee County].
      • Fannin County
      • This Dial is located in Fannin County and lies 671 miles [1,079.9 km]<3> to the west of the Dial that is located in Fannin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fannin County community of Dial.
      • Hutchinson County
      • This Dial is located in Hutchinson County and lies 969 miles [1,559.5 km] to the west of the Dial that is located in Fannin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hutchinson County community of Dial.
    • West Virginia
      • Kanawha County
      • This Dial is located in Kanawha County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Dial that is located in Fannin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kanawha County community of Dial.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dial ...

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.

  • Big Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Creek is located in Gilmer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
  • Diamond
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Diamond is located in Gilmer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
  • Due ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Due is located in Fannin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Due
  • Greens Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Greens Mill is located in Fannin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Mill
  • Hemp
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hemp is located in Fannin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemp
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,647 people
  • Jones Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jones Creek is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Creek
  • Marion
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Marion is located in Gilmer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
  • Stanley Mill ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Stanley Mill is located in Gilmer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley Mill
  • Sugar Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Sugar Hill is located in Fannin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill
  • Swan
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Swan is located in Fannin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan
  • Three Forks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Three Forks is located in Fannin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks

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

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

  • Blue Ridge, which is the Seat of Fannin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dial to Blue Ridge, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 70 miles [112.7 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 488 miles [785.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,385 miles [10,275.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,091 miles [11,411.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,968 miles [7,995.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Dial, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Dial 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>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- Dial) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Dial 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 Dial. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7598, Longitude: -84.2169       In this case, the coordinates for Dial have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.19 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.747 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.969 degrees.