Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Melvin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melvin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Melvin
- 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 Melvin:
- 37.350380, -82.694046
- 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 Melvin
- 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 Floyd County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Floyd County
- Since Melvin is near Pike County and also Knott County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pike County
- eBird sighting report for Knott 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 Melvin ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Melvin.
Within Kentucky, the name Melvin is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Choctaw County
- This Melvin is located in Choctaw County and lies 497 miles [799.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Melvin that is located in Floyd County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Choctaw County community of Melvin.
- Lauderdale County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Melvin [Lauderdale County].
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nevada
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Melvin ...
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.
- Bear Fork
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Beaver
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
- Beaver is located in Floyd County
- Big Card
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Dry Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Hall
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Halo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Harley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Indian Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
- Indian Creek is located in Pike County
- Jacks Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacks Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Creek
- Jacks Creek is located in Floyd County
- Lower Long Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Long Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Long Fork
- Lower Long Fork is located in Pike County
- Marshall Branch
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshall Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Branch
- Marshall Branch is located in Pike County
- Price
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Teaberry
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Turkey Pen
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Pen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Pen
- Turkey Pen is located in Pike County
How Far From Melvin 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 Melvin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Melvin and extending to:
- Prestonsburg, which is the Seat of Floyd County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Melvin to Prestonsburg, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 132 miles [212.4 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 325 miles [523 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,202 miles [9,981.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,915 miles [11,128.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,790 miles [7,708.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Melvin. 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Melvin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melvin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3504, Longitude: -82.6940 In this case, the coordinates for Melvin 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 Melvin, 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 Melvin 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 Melvin 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 311.316 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.115 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.627 degrees. |