RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Polk County >> Benton Station >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Benton Station, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benton Station 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 Benton Station:
    • 35.187574, -84.683270
    • 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 Benton Station
  • 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
    • Since Benton Station is near Bradley County and also McMinn County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bradley County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McMinn 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 Benton Station

Communities Also Named Benton Station ...

We found three communities that are also named Benton Station.

Within Tennessee, the name Benton Station is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of three communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Benton Station lies 1,690 miles [2,719.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Benton Station that is located in Polk County.
    • Iowa
      • Benton County
      • 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 Iowa community of Benton Station [Benton County].
    • Maine
      • Kennebec County
      • This Benton Station is located in Kennebec County and lies 1,027 miles [1,652.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Benton Station that is located in Polk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kennebec County community of Benton Station.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Benton Station ...

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.

  • American Heritage
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • American Heritage is located in Bradley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for American Heritage
  • Columbus ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Columbus is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
  • Cooks Ferry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cooks Ferry is located in Bradley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Ferry
  • Grief ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Grief is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grief
  • Heritage Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Heritage Hills is located in Bradley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
  • Oak Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Oak Grove is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Old Patty
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Patty is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Patty
  • Parksville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Parksville is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksville
  • Patty
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Patty is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patty
  • Royal Oak
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Royal Oak is located in Bradley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oak

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

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

  • Benton, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 135 miles [217.3 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Benton Station to Nashville, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 492 miles [791.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,384 miles [10,274.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,094 miles [11,416.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,970 miles [7,998.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Benton Station) 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 Benton Station, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 Benton Station 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 Benton Station. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1876, Longitude: -84.6833       In this case, the coordinates for Benton Station have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.482 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.143 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.05 degrees.