RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Cumberland County >> Big Lick >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Lick, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Lick 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 Big Lick:
    • 35.807291, -85.021344
    • 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 Big Lick
  • 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 Cumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
    • Since Big Lick is near Bledsoe County and also Rhea County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bledsoe County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rhea 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 Big Lick

Communities Also Named Big Lick ...

We found three communities that are also named Big Lick.

Within Tennessee, the name Big Lick is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • North Carolina
      • Alamance 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 North Carolina community of Big Lick [Alamance County].
      • Stanly County
      • This Big Lick is located in Stanly County and lies 265 miles [426.5 km]<2> to the east of the Big Lick that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stanly County community of Big Lick.
    • Ohio
      • Hancock County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Hancock County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Big Lick.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Lick ...

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.

  • Fairyland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Fairyland is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairyland
  • Foxfire
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Foxfire is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxfire
  • Grapevine ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Grapevine is located in Bledsoe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapevine
  • Grassy Cove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Grassy Cove is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Cove
  • Highland View
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Highland View is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland View
  • Homestead
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Homestead is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
  • Livesay
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Livesay is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livesay
  • Luminary
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Luminary is located in Bledsoe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luminary
  • Meridian
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Meridian is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
  • Music ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Music is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Music
  • New Era
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • New Era is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
  • Oak Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Oak Grove is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Old Winesap
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Old Winesap is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Winesap
    • Rainy ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Rainy is located in Bledsoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainy
    • Rolling Hills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Rolling Hills is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
    • Russell Shack Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Russell Shack Ridge is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Shack Ridge
    • Volunteer Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Volunteer Heights is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volunteer Heights
    • Wild Plum
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Wild Plum is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Plum

How Far From Big Lick 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 Big Lick to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Crossville, which is the Seat of Cumberland County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Big Lick to Crossville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 101 miles [162.5 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 487 miles [783.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,369 miles [10,249.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,082 miles [11,397.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,958 miles [7,979.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Big Lick 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 from Point A (ie- Big Lick) 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 Big Lick, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Big Lick 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 Big Lick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8073, Longitude: -85.0213       In this case, the coordinates for Big Lick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.705 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.487 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.032 degrees.