RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Phelps County >> Flat >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Flat, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Flat 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 Flat:
    • 37.745319, -91.929047
    • 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 Flat
  • 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 Phelps County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Phelps County
    • Since Flat is near Pulaski County and also Dent County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pulaski County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dent 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 Flat

Communities Also Named Flat ...

We found seven communities that are also named Flat.

Within Missouri, the name Flat is unique.

Beyond Missouri, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Flat lies 3,196 miles [5,143.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Flat that is located in Phelps County.
    • Arkansas
      • Logan 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 Arkansas community of Flat [Logan County].
      • Newton County
      • This Flat is located in Newton County and lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Flat that is located in Phelps County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Flat.
    • Colorado
      • Grand 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 Colorado community of Flat [Grand County].
    • Kentucky
      • Wolfe 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 Kentucky community of Flat [Wolfe County].
    • Ohio
      • Pike 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 Ohio community of Flat [Pike County].
    • Texas
      • Coryell County
      • This Flat is located in Coryell County and lies 549 miles [883.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Flat that is located in Phelps County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coryell County community of Flat.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Flat ...

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 Piney
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Piney is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Piney
  • Bloodland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Bloodland is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloodland
  • Blooming Rose
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Blooming Rose is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blooming Rose
  • Devils Elbow
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Duke
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Duke is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke
  • Hooker
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hooker is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
  • Jerome
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jerome is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
  • Kinderpost
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Kinderpost is located in Texas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinderpost
  • Spring Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Spring Creek is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
  • Yancy Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Yancy Mills is located in Phelps County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy Mills

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

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

  • Rolla, which is the Seat of Phelps County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Flat to Rolla, with an average speed<4> 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 five to six hours.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 58 miles [93.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 809 miles [1,302 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,546 miles [10,534.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,282 miles [11,719.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,163 miles [8,309 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Flat) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Flat 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Flat 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 Flat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7453, Longitude: -91.9290       In this case, the coordinates for Flat have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.17 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.901 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.652 degrees.