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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Monica, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Monica and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Monica:
    • 37.584254, -83.601578
    • 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 Monica
  • 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
    • Since Monica is near Estill County and also Breathitt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Estill County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Breathitt 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 Monica

Communities Also Named Monica ...

We found six communities that are also named Monica.

Within Kentucky, the name Monica is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Arkansas County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Monica [Arkansas County].
      • Saint Francis County
      • This Monica is located in Saint Francis County and lies 437 miles [703.3 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Monica that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Francis County community of Monica.
    • Illinois
      • Peoria County
      • This Monica is located in Peoria County and lies 404 miles [650.2 km]<2> to the northwest of the Monica that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Peoria County community of Monica.
    • Kansas
      • Monica #
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Monica.
    • New Mexico
      • Socorro County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Monica [Socorro County].
    • Texas
      • Cameron County
      • This Monica is located in Cameron County and lies 1,131 miles [1,820.2 km]<2> to the southwest of the Monica that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cameron County community of Monica.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Monica ...

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.

  • Booth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Booth is located in Wolfe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booth
  • Grannie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Grannie is located in Wolfe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grannie
  • Harris
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Harris is located in Estill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
  • Jetts Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jetts Creek is located in Breathitt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jetts Creek
  • Lone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lone is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone
  • Lower Buffalo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lower Buffalo is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Buffalo
  • Mary
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mary is located in Wolfe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary
  • Stay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Stay is located in Owsley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
  • War Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • War Creek is located in Breathitt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War Creek
  • Widecreek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Widecreek is located in Breathitt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Widecreek

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

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

  • Beattyville, which is the Seat of Lee County, lies just to the West.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Monica to Frankfort, with an average speed<4>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 5 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 367 miles [590.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,229 miles [10,024.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,945 miles [11,176.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,820 miles [7,757 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Monica, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Monica) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Monica 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>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 Monica 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 Monica. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5843, Longitude: -83.6016       In this case, the coordinates for Monica have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.868 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.781 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.946 degrees.