Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lilac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lilac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lilac
- 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 Lilac:
- 37.548945, -86.344143
- 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 Lilac
- 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 Grayson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Grayson County
- Since Lilac is near Breckinridge County and also Hardin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Breckinridge County
- eBird sighting report for Hardin 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 Lilac ...
We found six communities that share the name Lilac.
Within Kentucky, the name Lilac is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lilac ...
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.
- Centerview
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
- Centerview is located in Breckinridge County
- Cobblers Knob
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cobblers Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobblers Knob
- Cobblers Knob is located in Breckinridge County
- Fisher
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Hanging Rock
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanging Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanging Rock
- Hanging Rock is located in Grayson County
- Horn Back Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn Back Mill
- Horn Back Mill is located in Breckinridge County
- Indian Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Valley
- Indian Valley is located in Grayson County
- Madrid
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Short Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Short Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Creek
- Short Creek is located in Grayson County
- Tar Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
How Far From Lilac 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 Lilac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Lilac and extending to:
- Leitchfield, which is the Seat of Grayson County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Lilac to Frankfort, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 513 miles [825.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 30 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,341 miles [10,204.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,063 miles [11,366.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,939 miles [7,948.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lilac. 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lilac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lilac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5489, Longitude: -86.3441 In this case, the coordinates for Lilac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Lilac, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Lilac 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. |
| <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 Lilac 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 313.566 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.723 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.153 degrees. |