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










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Kentucky


The Commemorative Quarter for Kentucky







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cranks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cranks 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 Cranks:
    • 36.76524, -83.166967
    • 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.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Cranks
  • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Cranks ...

We found two communities that share the name Cranks.

Within Kentucky, the name Cranks is unique.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Virginia
      • Lee 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 Virginia community of Cranks [Lee County].
      • Louisa County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Cranks [Louisa County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cranks ...

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.

  • Ages
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ages
    • Ages is located in Harlan County
  • Ben Hur
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ben Hur have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Hur
    • Ben Hur is located in Lee County (VA)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ben Hur <4>
  • Bobs Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bobs Creek
    • Bobs Creek is located in Harlan County
  • Bonny Blue
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonny Blue have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonny Blue
    • Bonny Blue is located in Lee County (VA)
  • Chevrolet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chevrolet have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chevrolet
    • Chevrolet is located in Harlan County
  • Dizney
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dizney
    • Dizney is located in Harlan County
  • Dominion
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dominion have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion
    • Dominion is located in Lee County (VA)
  • Farmers Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmers Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Mill
    • Farmers Mill is located in Harlan County
  • Fleenortown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleenortown
    • Fleenortown is located in Lee County (VA)
  • Jonesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jonesville Camp Ground
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonesville Camp Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville Camp Ground
    • Jonesville Camp Ground is located in Lee County (VA)
  • Lee ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
    • Lee is located in Lee County (VA)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Mary Helen
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mary Helen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Helen
      • Mary Helen is located in Harlan County
    • Mayflower
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayflower have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower
      • Mayflower is located in Lee County (VA)
    • Pocket
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pocket have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocket
      • Pocket is located in Lee County (VA)
    • Redbud
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbud
      • Redbud is located in Harlan County
    • Short Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Short Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Town
      • Short Town is located in Harlan County
    • Stone Creek
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stone Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Creek
      • Stone Creek is located in Lee County (VA)
    • Sulphur Springs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Lee County (VA)
    • Ten Spot
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ten Spot have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Spot
      • Ten Spot is located in Harlan County
    • Three Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Point
      • Three Point is located in Harlan County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Cranks and extending to:

  • Harlan, which is the Seat of Harlan County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<5> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cranks to Harlan, with an average speed<6> 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.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 136 miles [218.9 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 365 miles [587.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,248 miles [10,055.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,960 miles [11,201 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,836 miles [7,782.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cranks. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/

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 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 Cranks 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>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 Cranks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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- Cranks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cranks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7652, Longitude: -83.1670    
<6>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.
<7>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 Cranks to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.60 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.356 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.997 degrees.









 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024