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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Whitesburg, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whitesburg 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 Whitesburg:
    • 37.118570, -82.826014
    • 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 Whitesburg
  • 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 Letcher County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Letcher County
    • Since Whitesburg is near Wise County and also Knott County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knott 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 Whitesburg

Communities Also Named Whitesburg ...

We found five communities that are also named Whitesburg.

Within Kentucky, the name Whitesburg is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Madison County
      • This Whitesburg is located in Madison County and lies 273 miles [439.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Whitesburg that is located in Letcher County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Whitesburg.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Whitesburg is located in Hillsborough County and lies 632 miles [1,017.1 km]<1> to the south of the Whitesburg that is located in Letcher County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Whitesburg.
    • Georgia
      • Carroll County
      • This Whitesburg is located in Carroll County and lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Whitesburg that is located in Letcher County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Whitesburg.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • This Whitesburg is located in Armstrong County and lies 310 miles [498.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Whitesburg that is located in Letcher County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of Whitesburg.
    • Tennessee
      • Hamblen County
      • This Whitesburg is located in Hamblen County and lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Whitesburg that is located in Letcher County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamblen County community of Whitesburg.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Whitesburg ...

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.

  • Bellcraft
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Bellcraft is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellcraft
  • Bottom Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Bottom Fork is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Fork
  • Craftsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Craftsville is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craftsville
  • Crown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Crown is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
  • Day
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Day is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day
  • Hot Spot
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hot Spot is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Spot
    • Hot Spot has also been known as:
    • Hotspot
  • Ice
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Ice is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ice
  • Jeremiah
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kingdom Come
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingdom Come is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingdom Come
  • Kings Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kings Creek is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek
  • Little Colly
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Little Colly is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Colly
  • Lucastown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lucastown is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucastown
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Marshal Branch
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Marshal Branch is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshal Branch
    • Millstone
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Millstone is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
    • Oven Fork
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Oven Fork is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oven Fork
    • Polly
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Polly is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polly

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

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

  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 134 miles [215.7 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Whitesburg to Frankfort, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 338 miles [544 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 6,218 miles [10,006.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,930 miles [11,152.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,806 miles [7,734.5 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Whitesburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Whitesburg 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 Whitesburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1186, Longitude: -82.8260       In this case, the coordinates for Whitesburg have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.396 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.173 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.751 degrees.