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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Silica, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Silica 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 Silica:
    • 38.265767, -83.225975
    • 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 Silica
  • 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 Carter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carter County
    • Since Silica is near Elliott County and also Rowan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elliott County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rowan 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 Silica

Communities Also Named Silica ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Silica.

Within Kentucky, the name Silica is unique.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Silica lies 1,862 miles [2,996.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
    • Kansas
      • Phillips 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 Silica [Phillips County].
      • Rice County
      • This Silica is located in Rice County and lies 824 miles [1,326.1 km]<1> to the west of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rice County community of Silica.
    • Minnesota
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Silica is located in Saint Louis County and lies 794 miles [1,277.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Silica.
    • Missouri
      • Jefferson County
      • This Silica is located in Jefferson County and lies 390 miles [627.6 km]<1> to the west of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Silica.
    • Ohio
      • Lucas County
      • This Silica is located in Lucas County and lies 237 miles [381.4 km]<1> to the north of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lucas County community of Silica.
    • South Carolina
      • Lexington 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 South Carolina community of Silica [Lexington County].
    • Tennessee
      • Campbell County
      • This Silica is located in Campbell County and lies 145 miles [233.4 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Campbell County community of Silica.
    • Virginia
      • Scott County
      • This Silica is located in Scott County and lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Silica.
    • West Virginia
      • Randolph County
      • This Silica is located in Randolph County and lies 164 miles [263.9 km]<1> to the east of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Silica.
    • Wisconsin
      • Fond du Lac County
      • This Silica is located in Fond du Lac County and lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Silica that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fond du Lac County community of Silica.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Silica ...

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.

  • Beartown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Beartown is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
  • Cold Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cold Springs is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Enterprise
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Enterprise is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Globe
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Globe is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
  • Jacobs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jacobs is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs
  • Limestone
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Limestone is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limestone
  • Mountain Top
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Mountain Top is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Top
  • Reeder
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Reeder is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeder
  • Rose Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Rose Hill is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
  • Shady Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Shady Grove is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Sideway
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Sideway is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sideway
  • Soldier
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Soldier is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldier

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

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

  • Grayson, which is the Seat of Carter County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Silica to Grayson, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 89 miles [143.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 336 miles [540.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,182 miles [9,949 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,900 miles [11,104.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,775 miles [7,684.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Silica) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Silica 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>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 Silica 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 Silica. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2658, Longitude: -83.2260       In this case, the coordinates for Silica have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.636 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.615 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.582 degrees.