Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Hecla, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hecla and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Hecla
- 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 Hecla:
- 37.285045, -87.526944
- 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 Hecla
- 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 Hopkins County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hopkins County
- Since Hecla is near Christian County and also Muhlenberg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Christian County
- eBird sighting report for Muhlenberg 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Hecla ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Hecla.
Within Kentucky, the name Hecla is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eleven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Manitoba
- This Hecla lies 1,056 miles [1,699.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Hecla that is located in Hopkins County.
- Missouri
- Montana
- New York
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Schuylkill County
- This Hecla is located in Schuylkill County and lies 661 miles [1,063.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Hecla that is located in Hopkins County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schuylkill County community of Hecla.
- Westmoreland 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 Pennsylvania community of Hecla [Westmoreland County].
- South Dakota
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hecla ...
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.
- Coiltown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Daniel Boone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Daniel Boone have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniel Boone
- Daniel Boone is located in Hopkins County
- Fiddle Bow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiddle Bow
- Fiddle Bow is located in Hopkins County
- Grapevine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Little Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Valley
- Little Valley is located in Hopkins County
- Oriole
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Pee Vee
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Rabbit Ridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rabbit Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Ridge
- Rabbit Ridge is located in Hopkins County
- Sixth Vein
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sixth Vein have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixth Vein
- Sixth Vein is located in Hopkins County
How Far From Hecla 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 Hecla to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hecla and extending to:
- Madisonville, which is the Seat of Hopkins County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 158 miles [254.3 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Hecla to Frankfort, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 580 miles [933.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,400 miles [10,299.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,125 miles [11,466.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,000 miles [8,046.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Hecla. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Hecla) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hecla. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2850, Longitude: -87.5269 In this case, the coordinates for Hecla have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Hecla 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 Hecla, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Hecla to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.303 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.533 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.744 degrees. |