RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Anderson County >> Ballard >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ballard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ballard 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 Ballard:
    • 37.930351, -84.990510
    • 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 Ballard
  • 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 Anderson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anderson County
    • Since Ballard is near Mercer County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Ballard

Communities Also Named Ballard ...

We found eighteen communities that are also named Ballard.

There is one other community in Kentucky that is also named Ballard.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of seventeen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Kentucky ...
    • Menifee County
      • This Ballard is located in Menifee County and lies 69 miles [111 km]<1> to the east of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menifee County community of Ballard.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Fayette 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 Alabama community of Ballard [Fayette County].
    • Arkansas
      • Sharp County
      • This Ballard is located in Sharp County and lies 385 miles [619.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sharp County community of Ballard.
    • California
      • Santa Barbara County
      • This Ballard is located in Santa Barbara County and lies 1,956 miles [3,147.9 km]<1> to the west of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Barbara County community of Ballard.
    • Florida
      • Lee 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 Florida community of Ballard [Lee County].
    • Illinois
      • McLean 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 Ballard [McLean County].
    • Kansas
      • Smith 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 Ballard [Smith County].
    • Maryland
      • Prince George's County
      • This Ballard is located in Prince George's County and lies 442 miles [711.3 km]<1> to the east of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince George's County community of Ballard.
    • Massachusetts
      • Essex 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 Massachusetts community of Ballard [Essex County].
    • Mississippi
      • Madison County
      • This Ballard is located in Madison County and lies 466 miles [750 km]<1> to the southwest of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Ballard.
    • Missouri
      • Bates 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 Ballard [Bates County].
    • North Carolina
      • Martin County
      • This Ballard is located in Martin County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Martin County community of Ballard.
    • Oklahoma
      • Adair County
      • This Ballard is located in Adair County and lies 543 miles [873.9 km]<1> to the west of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adair County community of Ballard.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Ballard is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,439 miles [2,315.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Ballard.
      • Uintah County
      • This Ballard is located in Uintah County and lies 1,342 miles [2,159.7 km] to the west northwest of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Uintah County community of Ballard.
    • Virginia
      • Patrick 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 Virginia community of Ballard [Patrick County].
    • Washington
      • King County
      • This Ballard is located in King County and lies 1,987 miles [3,197.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King County community of Ballard.
    • West Virginia
      • Monroe County
      • This Ballard is located in Monroe County and lies 232 miles [373.4 km]<1> to the east of the Ballard that is located in Anderson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Ballard.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ballard ...

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.

  • Birdie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Birdie is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdie
  • Bondville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Bondville is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondville
  • Drydock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Drydock is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drydock
  • Fox Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Fox Creek is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Creek
  • Glensboro
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Glensboro is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glensboro
  • Hickory Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Mayo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mayo is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
  • Seaville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Seaville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaville
  • Terrapin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Terrapin is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrapin

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

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

  • Lawrenceburg, which is the Seat of Anderson County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Ballard to Frankfort, with an average speed<4> 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 6 hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 435 miles [700.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 25 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,269 miles [10,089 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,989 miles [11,247.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,865 miles [7,829.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Ballard) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Ballard 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 Ballard, 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 Ballard 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 Ballard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9304, Longitude: -84.9905       In this case, the coordinates for Ballard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.727 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.815 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.453 degrees.