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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hodgenville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hodgenville 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 Hodgenville:
    • 37.570186, -85.740193
    • 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 Hodgenville
  • 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 Larue County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Larue County
    • Since Hodgenville is near Hardin County and also Nelson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Nelson 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 Hodgenville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hodgenville ...

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.

  • Boundary Oak
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Boundary Oak is located in Larue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boundary Oak
  • Buffalo
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Buffalo is located in Larue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
  • Ginseng
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ginseng is located in Larue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginseng
  • Howardstown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Howardstown is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardstown
  • Leafdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Leafdale is located in Larue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leafdale
  • Lyons
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lyons is located in Larue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
  • Magnolia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Maxine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Maxine is located in Larue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxine
  • Tanner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Tanner is located in Larue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Hodgenville and extending to:

  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 64 miles [103 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Hodgenville to Frankfort, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 480 miles [772.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,316 miles [10,164.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,037 miles [11,325 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,912 miles [7,905.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hodgenville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Hodgenville 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 Hodgenville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5702, Longitude: -85.7402    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.189 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.293 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.881 degrees.