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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smithsonia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithsonia 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 Smithsonia:
    • 32.803472, -83.568235
    • 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 Smithsonia
  • 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 Bibb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bibb County
    • Since Smithsonia is near Jones County and also Twiggs County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jones County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Twiggs 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 Smithsonia

Communities Also Named Smithsonia ...

We found two communities that are also named Smithsonia.

There is one other community in Georgia that is also named Smithsonia.

Beyond Georgia, there is another community also named Smithsonia in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Georgia ...
    • Oglethorpe 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 Georgia community of Smithsonia [Oglethorpe County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Lauderdale County
      • This Smithsonia is located in Lauderdale County and lies 282 miles [453.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Smithsonia that is located in Bibb County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lauderdale County community of Smithsonia.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithsonia ...

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.

  • Bridgeman
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Bridgeman is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeman
  • Cross Keys
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cross Keys is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
  • Crystal Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Dry Branch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Groveland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Groveland is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
  • Heritage Acres
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Heritage Acres is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Acres
  • Kings Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Kings Park is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
  • Kings View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Kings View is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings View
  • Lake Arrowhead
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Arrowhead is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Arrowhead
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mogul
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Mogul is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogul
      • Estimated population in 2019: 400 people
    • Tanglewood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Tanglewood is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Terra Cotta
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Terra Cotta is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terra Cotta
    • Unionville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Unionville is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Whispering Pines
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Whispering Pines is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Wood Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wood Valley is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Valley

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

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

  • Macon, which is the Seat of Bibb County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Smithsonia to Atlanta, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 557 miles [896.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,447 miles [10,375.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,144 miles [11,497.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,024 miles [8,085.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Smithsonia 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Smithsonia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Smithsonia 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 Smithsonia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8035, Longitude: -83.5682       In this case, the coordinates for Smithsonia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.736 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.948 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.199 degrees.