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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shelbyville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shelbyville 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 Shelbyville:
    • 38.212206, -85.223400
    • 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 Shelbyville
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Shelbyville is near Lawrence County and also Spencer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Spencer 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 Shelbyville

Communities Also Named Shelbyville ...

We found seven communities that are also named Shelbyville.

Within Kentucky, the name Shelbyville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Sharp County
      • This Shelbyville is located in Sharp County and lies 373 miles [600.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Shelbyville that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sharp County community of Shelbyville.
    • Illinois
      • Shelby County
      • This Shelbyville is located in Shelby County and lies 209 miles [336.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Shelbyville that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Shelbyville.
    • Indiana
      • Shelby County
      • This Shelbyville is located in Shelby County and lies 95 miles [152.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Shelbyville that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Shelbyville.
    • Michigan
      • Allegan County
      • This Shelbyville is located in Allegan County and lies 303 miles [487.6 km]<1> to the north of the Shelbyville that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegan County community of Shelbyville.
    • Missouri
      • Shelby County
      • This Shelbyville is located in Shelby County and lies 381 miles [613.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Shelbyville that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Shelbyville.
    • Tennessee
      • Bedford County
      • This Shelbyville is located in Bedford County and lies 199 miles [320.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Shelbyville that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bedford County community of Shelbyville.
    • Texas
      • Shelby County
      • This Shelbyville is located in Shelby County and lies 669 miles [1,076.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Shelbyville that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Shelbyville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shelbyville ...

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.

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

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

  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Shelbyville to Frankfort, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 444 miles [714.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,265 miles [10,082.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,987 miles [11,244.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,863 miles [7,826.2 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Shelbyville) 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 Shelbyville 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 Shelbyville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2122, Longitude: -85.2234    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.875 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.025 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.478 degrees.