RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Short Town, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Short Town 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 Short Town:
    • 36.877590, -83.160450
    • 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 Short Town
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Short Town ...

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.

  • Ages
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ages
    • Ages is located in Harlan County
  • Black Bottom
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Bottom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colts have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colts
    • Colts is located in Harlan County
  • Divide
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Divide have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divide
    • Divide is located in Harlan County
  • Dizney
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dizney
    • Dizney is located in Harlan County
  • Georgetown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
    • Georgetown is located in Harlan County
  • Highsplint
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highsplint have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laden
    • Laden is located in Harlan County
  • Mayflower
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayflower have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower
    • Mayflower is located in Lee County (VA)
  • Pine Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
    • Pine Mountain is located in Harlan County
  • Redbud
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbud
    • Redbud is located in Harlan County
  • Shields
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shields have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shields
    • Shields is located in Harlan County
  • Ten Spot
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ten Spot have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Spot
    • Ten Spot is located in Harlan County

How Far From Short Town to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Short Town to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Short Town and extending to:

  • Harlan, which is the Seat of Harlan County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Short Town to Harlan, with an average speed<3> 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 361 miles [581 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,243 miles [10,047.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,955 miles [11,193 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,831 miles [7,774.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Short Town. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Short Town) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Short Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8776, Longitude: -83.1604       In this case, the coordinates for Short Town have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>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.
<4>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 Short Town to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.597 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.368 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.962 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 13 Jul 2025