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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wentz, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wentz 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 Wentz:
    • 37.081760, -83.063777
    • 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 Wentz
  • 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 Perry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Perry County
    • Since Wentz is near Letcher County and also Harlan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Letcher County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harlan 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 Wentz

Communities Also Named Wentz ...

We found three communities that are also named Wentz.

Within Kentucky, the name Wentz is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Carroll County
      • This Wentz is located in Carroll County and lies 378 miles [608.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Wentz that is located in Perry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Wentz.
    • New York
      • Schuyler 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 New York community of Wentz [Schuyler County].
    • Virginia
      • Wise 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 Virginia community of Wentz [Wise County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wentz ...

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.

  • Big Rock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Big Rock is located in Leslie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
  • Blair
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Blair is located in Harlan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
  • Chad
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Chad is located in Harlan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chad
  • Daisy
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Daisy is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
  • Defeated Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Defeated Creek is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defeated Creek
  • Defiance
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Defiance is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
  • Flint
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Flint is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
  • Gordon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Gordon is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
  • Happy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Happy is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy
  • Hot Spot
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Hot Spot is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Spot
    • Hot Spot has also been known as:
    • Hotspot
  • Indian Bottom
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Bottom is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Bottom
  • Kings Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Kings Creek is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Kodak
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Kodak is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kodak
    • Linefork
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Linefork is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linefork
    • Sand Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Sand Hill is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill
    • Skyline
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Skyline is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline
    • Turkey Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Turkey Creek is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Creek
    • Viper
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Viper is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viper

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

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

  • Hazard, which is the Seat of Perry County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Wentz to Hazard, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 125 miles [201.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 351 miles [564.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,230 miles [10,026.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,942 miles [11,172.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,818 miles [7,753.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Wentz) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Wentz 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 Wentz 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 Wentz. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0818, Longitude: -83.0638       In this case, the coordinates for Wentz have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.539 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.332 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.863 degrees.