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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Defoe, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Defoe 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 Defoe:
    • 38.340902, -85.054397
    • 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 Defoe
  • 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 Henry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry County
    • Since Defoe is near Shelby County and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin 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 Defoe

Communities Also Named Defoe ...

We found one communities that are also named Defoe.

Within Kentucky, the name Defoe is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • West Virginia
      • Webster 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 West Virginia community of Defoe [Webster County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Defoe ...

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.

  • Bagdad
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Castle ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Castle is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle
  • Christianburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Christianburg is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christianburg
  • Elmburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Elmburg is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmburg
  • Eminence
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Flag Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Flag Fork is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flag Fork
  • Mulberry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mulberry is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
  • North Pleasureville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • North Pleasureville is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pleasureville
  • Old Christianburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Old Christianburg is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Christianburg
  • Pleasureville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Slabtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Slabtown is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown

How Far From Defoe to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Defoe to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Defoe and extending to:

  • New Castle, which is the Seat of Henry County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Defoe to Frankfort, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 434 miles [698.5 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 6,252 miles [10,061.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,974 miles [11,223.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,850 miles [7,805.3 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 Defoe, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Defoe) 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 Defoe 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 Defoe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3409, Longitude: -85.0544       In this case, the coordinates for Defoe have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.771 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.923 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.367 degrees.