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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ballardsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ballardsville 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 Ballardsville:
    • 38.361743, -85.345684
    • 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 Ballardsville
  • 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 Oldham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oldham County
    • Since Ballardsville is near Henry County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Ballardsville

Communities Also Named Ballardsville ...

We found two communities that are also named Ballardsville.

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

Beyond Kentucky, there is another community also named Ballardsville in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Kentucky ...
    • Jefferson County
      • This Ballardsville is located in Jefferson County and lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Ballardsville that is located in Oldham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Ballardsville.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Itawamba County
      • This Ballardsville is located in Itawamba County and lies 335 miles [539.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Ballardsville that is located in Oldham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Itawamba County community of Ballardsville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ballardsville ...

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.

  • Boston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Boston is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
  • Cedar Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Point is located in Oldham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Point
  • Chestnut Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Eminence
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Floydsburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Floydsburg is located in Oldham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floydsburg
  • Glenarm
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Glenarm is located in Oldham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenarm
  • Greenhaven
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenhaven is located in Oldham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenhaven
  • Long Run
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Long Run is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Run
  • Park Lake
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Park Lake is located in Oldham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Lake
  • Pewee Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Raymond Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Raymond Hill is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond Hill
  • Sulphur
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Todds Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Todds Point is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todds Point

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

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

  • La Grange, which is the Seat of Oldham County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Ballardsville to Frankfort, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 449 miles [722.6 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 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,263 miles [10,079.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,986 miles [11,242.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,861 miles [7,823 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ballardsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Ballardsville 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 Ballardsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3617, Longitude: -85.3457       In this case, the coordinates for Ballardsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.953 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.135 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.491 degrees.