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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hercules, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hercules 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 Hercules:
    • 36.707561, -92.872951
    • 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 Hercules
  • 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 Taney County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taney County
    • Since Hercules is near Douglas County and also Ozark County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ozark 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 Hercules

Communities Also Named Hercules ...

We found nine communities that are also named Hercules.

There is one other community in Missouri that is also named Hercules.

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

  • Communities Located In Missouri ...
    • Jasper 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 Missouri community of Hercules [Jasper County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Hercules lies 1,515 miles [2,438.2 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Hercules that is located in Taney County.
    • California
      • Contra Costa County
      • This Hercules is located in Contra Costa County and lies 1,609 miles [2,589.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Hercules that is located in Taney County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Contra Costa County community of Hercules.
    • Delaware
      • New Castle 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 Delaware community of Hercules [New Castle County].
    • Florida
      • Duval 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 Florida community of Hercules [Duval County].
    • Nevada
      • Churchill County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Churchill County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Churchill County community of Hercules.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Northampton 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 Pennsylvania community of Hercules [Northampton County].
    • Tennessee
      • Knox 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 Tennessee community of Hercules [Knox County].
    • Virginia
      • Southampton 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 Virginia community of Hercules [Southampton County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hercules ...

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.

  • Cedarcreek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedarcreek is located in Taney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarcreek
  • Cross Roads
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Cross Roads is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
  • Dickens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Dickens is located in Taney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
  • Kissee Mills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Longrun
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Longrun is located in Ozark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longrun
  • Pondfork
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Pondfork is located in Ozark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondfork
  • Swan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Swan is located in Taney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan
  • Thornfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Thornfield is located in Ozark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornfield
  • Witty
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Witty is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witty

How Far From Hercules to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Hercules to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Forsyth, which is the Seat of Taney County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Hercules to Forsyth, with an average speed<5> 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.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 134 miles [215.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 875 miles [1,408.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,633 miles [10,674.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,369 miles [11,859.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,249 miles [8,447.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 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 Hercules 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hercules) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Hercules, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Hercules 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 Hercules. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7076, Longitude: -92.8730       In this case, the coordinates for Hercules have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.727 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.408 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.294 degrees.