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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Leatherwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Leatherwood 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 Leatherwood:
    • 37.032870, -83.172394
    • 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 Leatherwood
  • 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 Perry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Perry County
    • Since Leatherwood is near Leslie County and also Harlan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Leslie County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harlan 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 Leatherwood

Communities Also Named Leatherwood ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Leatherwood.

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

Beyond Kentucky, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Kentucky ...
    • Menifee County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Menifee County and lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menifee County community of Leatherwood.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Calhoun County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Calhoun County and lies 274 miles [441 km]<1> to the southwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Leatherwood.
    • Arkansas
      • Carroll 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 Arkansas community of Leatherwood [Carroll County].
    • Georgia
      • Franklin County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Franklin County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Leatherwood.
    • Indiana
      • Parke County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Parke County and lies 291 miles [468.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Parke County community of Leatherwood.
    • Maryland
      • Carroll County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Carroll County and lies 388 miles [624.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Leatherwood.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Clarion County and lies 342 miles [550.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Leatherwood.
    • Tennessee
      • Maury County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Leatherwood [Maury County].
      • Wayne County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Wayne County and lies 283 miles [455.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Leatherwood.
    • Virginia
      • Henry County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Henry County and lies 190 miles [305.8 km]<1> to the east of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Leatherwood.
    • West Virginia
      • Mingo County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Mingo County and lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mingo County community of Leatherwood.
      • Ohio County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Ohio County and lies 248 miles [399.1 km] to the north northeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ohio County community of Leatherwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Leatherwood ...

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.

  • Big Laurel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Laurel is located in Harlan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel
  • Big Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Big Rock is located in Leslie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
  • Black Bottom
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Black Bottom is located in Harlan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
  • Chad
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Chad is located in Harlan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chad
  • Cutshin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cutshin is located in Leslie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshin
  • Daisy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Daisy is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
  • Defeated Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Defeated Creek is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defeated Creek
  • Divide
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Divide is located in Harlan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divide
  • Gordon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Gordon is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Laden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Laden is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laden
    • Lewis Creek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Lewis Creek is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Creek
    • Pine Mountain
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Pine Mountain is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
    • Sand Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Sand Hill is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill
    • Shields
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Shields is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shields
    • Turkey Creek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Turkey Creek is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Creek

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

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

  • Hazard, which is the Seat of Perry County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Leatherwood to Hazard, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 123 miles [197.9 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 357 miles [574.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,236 miles [10,035.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,949 miles [11,183.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,825 miles [7,765.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Leatherwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Leatherwood 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 Leatherwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Leatherwood 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 Leatherwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0329, Longitude: -83.1724       In this case, the coordinates for Leatherwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.605 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.40 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.923 degrees.