RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Hamblen County >> Alpha Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alpha Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alpha Heights 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 Alpha Heights:
    • 36.184813, -83.387950
    • 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 Alpha Heights
  • 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 Hamblen County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamblen County
    • Since Alpha Heights is near Jefferson County and also Grainger County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grainger 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 Alpha Heights

Communities Also Named Alpha Heights ...

We found one communities that are also named Alpha Heights.

Within Tennessee, the name Alpha Heights is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, there is another community also named Alpha Heights in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Coffee County
      • This Alpha Heights is located in Coffee County and lies 362 miles [582.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Alpha Heights that is located in Hamblen County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coffee County community of Alpha Heights.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alpha Heights ...

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.

  • Alpha
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Alpha is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Bluegrass
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Bluegrass is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluegrass
  • Fox Den
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Fox Den is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Den
  • Green Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Green Acres is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Kathy Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Kathy Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kathy Hills
  • Meadowview
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Meadowview is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
  • Panther Creek ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Panther Creek is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Creek
  • Panther Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Panther Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Hills
  • Panther Lake
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Panther Lake is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Lake
  • Rambling Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Rambling Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rambling Hills
  • Seven Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Seven Oaks is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
  • Smokerise
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Smokerise is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smokerise
  • Willow Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Willow Springs is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

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

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

  • Morristown, which is the Seat of Hamblen County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 188 miles [302.6 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Alpha Heights to Nashville, with an average speed<2>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 394 miles [634.1 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,284 miles [10,113.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,994 miles [11,255.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,870 miles [7,837.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Alpha Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Alpha Heights 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 Alpha Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1848, Longitude: -83.3880       In this case, the coordinates for Alpha Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.727 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.418 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.253 degrees.