Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shields, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shields and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shields
- 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 Shields:
- 36.896479, -83.141838
- 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 Shields
- 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 Harlan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Harlan County
- Since Shields is near Letcher County and also Lee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Letcher County
- eBird sighting report for Lee 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 Shields ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name Shields.
Within Kentucky, the name Shields is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eighteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Jefferson 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 Kansas community of Shields [Jefferson County].
- Lane County
- This Shields is located in Lane County and lies 950 miles [1,528.9 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Shields that is located in Harlan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lane County community of Shields.
- Shawnee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Shields [Shawnee County].
- Michigan
- Montana
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Shields lies 1,530 miles [2,462.3 km]<3> to the northwest of the Shields that is located in Harlan County.
- Texas
- Virginia
- Accomack County
- This Shields is located in Accomack County and lies 403 miles [648.6 km]<3> to the east of the Shields that is located in Harlan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Accomack County community of Shields.
- Prince Edward County
- This Shields is located in Prince Edward County and lies 248 miles [399.1 km] to the east of the Shields that is located in Harlan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince Edward County community of Shields.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shields ...
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.
- Black Bottom
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Bottom have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Black Bottom is located in Harlan County
- Colts
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Divide
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Dizney
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dizney
- Dizney is located in Harlan County
- Georgetown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Georgetown is located in Harlan County
- Highsplint
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highsplint have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highsplint
- Highsplint is located in Harlan County
- Laden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Mayflower
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Pine Mountain
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
- Pine Mountain is located in Harlan County
- Redbud
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbud
- Redbud is located in Harlan County
- Short Town
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Short Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Town
- Short Town is located in Harlan County
- Ten Spot
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Shields 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 Shields to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Shields and extending to:
- Harlan, which is the Seat of Harlan County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shields to Harlan, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 130 miles [209.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 360 miles [579.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,241 miles [10,043.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,954 miles [11,191.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,829 miles [7,771.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shields. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/
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 Shields, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Shields 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> | 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- Shields) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shields. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8965, Longitude: -83.1418 In this case, the coordinates for Shields have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Shields 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 311.586 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.358 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.949 degrees. |