RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> Smith County >> Zion Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Zion Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zion Hill 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 Zion Hill:
    • 31.837938, -89.566736
    • 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 Zion Hill
  • 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 Smith County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smith County
    • Since Zion Hill is near Covington County and also Simpson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Covington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Simpson 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 Zion Hill

Communities Also Named Zion Hill ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Zion Hill.

There are two communities within Mississippi that are also named Zion Hill.

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

  • Communities Located In Mississippi ...
    • Amite County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Amite County and lies 82 miles [132 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amite County community of Zion Hill.
    • Simpson County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Simpson County and lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Simpson County community of Zion Hill.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Sumter County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Sumter County and lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Zion Hill.
    • Arkansas
      • Pulaski County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Pulaski County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Zion Hill.
      • Van Buren County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Van Buren County and lies 322 miles [518.2 km] to the northwest of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Van Buren County community of Zion Hill.
    • Florida
      • Leon County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Leon County and lies 323 miles [519.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leon County community of Zion Hill.
    • Kentucky
      • Scott County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Scott County and lies 515 miles [828.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Zion Hill.
    • Louisiana
      • Winn Parish
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Zion Hill [Winn Parish].
    • Missouri
      • Phelps County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Zion Hill [Phelps County].
    • Ontario
      • This Zion Hill lies 1,081 miles [1,739.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Clarion County and lies 849 miles [1,366.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Zion Hill.
    • South Carolina
      • Spartanburg County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Spartanburg County and lies 493 miles [793.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Zion Hill.
    • Tennessee
      • Hawkins County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Hawkins County and lies 498 miles [801.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hawkins County community of Zion Hill.
      • McMinn County
      • This Zion Hill is located in McMinn County and lies 380 miles [611.6 km] to the northeast of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McMinn County community of Zion Hill.
    • Texas
      • Guadalupe County
      • Although located in Guadalupe County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guadalupe County community of Zion Hill.
      • Jasper County
      • This Zion Hill is located in Jasper County and lies 268 miles [431.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Zion Hill that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jasper County community of Zion Hill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Zion Hill ...

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.

  • Coats
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Coats is located in Simpson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
  • Hopewell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hopewell is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Hot Coffee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hot Coffee is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Coffee
  • Magee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Magee is located in Simpson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,094 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Magee <4>
  • Merry Hell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Merry Hell is located in Simpson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merry Hell
  • Mineral Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mineral Springs is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
  • Rock Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rock Hill is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
  • Shady Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Shady Grove is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Union
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Union is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

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

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

  • Raleigh, which is the Seat of Smith County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Zion Hill to Raleigh, 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.
  • Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 48 miles [77.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 856 miles [1,377.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,747 miles [10,858.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,458 miles [12,002.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,334 miles [8,584.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Zion Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Zion Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Zion Hill 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.
<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 Zion Hill 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 Zion Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.8379, Longitude: -89.5667       In this case, the coordinates for Zion Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.217 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.844 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.724 degrees.