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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Watauga, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watauga 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 Watauga:
    • 36.817012, -85.064676
    • 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 Watauga
  • 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 Clinton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clinton County
    • Since Watauga is near Wayne County and also Russell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell 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 Watauga

Communities Also Named Watauga ...

We found six communities that are also named Watauga.

There is one other community in Kentucky that is also named Watauga.

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

  • Communities Located In Kentucky ...
    • Clark County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Watauga [Clark County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • North Carolina
      • Macon County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Watauga [Macon County].
    • South Dakota
      • Corson County
      • This Watauga is located in Corson County and lies 1,056 miles [1,699.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Watauga that is located in Clinton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Corson County community of Watauga.
    • Tennessee
      • Carter County
      • This Watauga is located in Carter County and lies 156 miles [251.1 km]<2> to the east of the Watauga that is located in Clinton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carter County community of Watauga.
    • Texas
      • Tarrant County
      • This Watauga is located in Tarrant County and lies 741 miles [1,192.5 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Watauga that is located in Clinton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Watauga.
    • Virginia
      • Washington County
      • This Watauga is located in Washington County and lies 173 miles [278.4 km]<2> to the east of the Watauga that is located in Clinton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Watauga.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Watauga ...

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.

  • Aaron
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Aaron is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aaron
  • Alpha
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Alpha is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Cartwright
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cartwright is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartwright
  • Freedom
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Freedom is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
  • Gapcreek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gapcreek is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gapcreek
  • Helm
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Helm is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helm
  • Ida
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Ida is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida
  • Long Bottom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Bottom is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Bottom
  • Manntown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Manntown is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manntown
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Seventy Six
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Seventy Six is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seventy Six
    • Snow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Snow is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow
    • Stokes ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Stokes is located in Russell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
    • Susie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Susie is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susie
    • Wait
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wait is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wait
    • Windy
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Windy is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy

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

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

  • Albany, which is the Seat of Clinton County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Watauga to Albany, 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 96 miles [154.5 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 460 miles [740.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,324 miles [10,177.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,041 miles [11,331.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,916 miles [7,911.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Watauga 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Watauga) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Watauga 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 Watauga. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8170, Longitude: -85.0647       In this case, the coordinates for Watauga have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.756 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.689 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.788 degrees.