Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alena and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alena
- 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 Alena:
- 36.076478, -83.506839
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Alena
- 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Alena is near Grainger County and also Hamblen County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grainger County
- eBird sighting report for Hamblen 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Alena ...
We found two communities that share the name Alena.
Within Tennessee, the name Alena is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Hawaii
- This Alena lies 4,450 miles [7,161.6 km]<1> to the west of the Alena that is located in Jefferson County.
- Kansas
- Hawaii
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alena ...
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.
- Deep Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deep Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Springs
- Deep Springs is located in Jefferson County
- Dumplin
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumplin
- Dumplin is located in Jefferson County
- Dumplin Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dumplin Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumplin Mill
- Dumplin Mill is located in Jefferson County
- Flat Gap
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Gap
- Flat Gap is located in Jefferson County
- Four Points
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Points have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Points
- Four Points is located in Jefferson County
- Friends Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friends Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friends Station
- Friends Station is located in Jefferson County
- Gravelly Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gravelly Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravelly Hill
- Gravelly Hill is located in Jefferson County
- Greenhill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Mount Horeb
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Horeb have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
- Mount Horeb is located in Jefferson County
- Oars Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oars Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oars Ferry
- Oars Ferry is located in Grainger County
- Rock Town
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Rocky Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Valley
- Rocky Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,771 people
- Shady Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Sugar Forks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Forks
- Sugar Forks is located in Jefferson County
How Far From Alena 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 Alena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Alena once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Alena and extending to:
- Dandridge, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 182 miles [292.9 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Alena to Nashville, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 404 miles [650.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,294 miles [10,129.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,004 miles [11,271.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,880 miles [7,853.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Alena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0765, Longitude: -83.5068 In this case, the coordinates for Alena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Alena 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | 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 Alena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Alena to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.797 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.483 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.332 degrees. |