RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Sullivan County >> Buncombe >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Buncombe, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Buncombe 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 Buncombe:
    • 36.511770, -82.317083
    • 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 Buncombe
  • 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 Sullivan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sullivan County
    • Since Buncombe is near Washington County and also Carter County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carter 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 Buncombe

Communities Also Named Buncombe ...

We found six communities that are also named Buncombe.

There is one other community in Tennessee that is also named Buncombe.

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

  • Communities Located In Tennessee ...
    • Franklin County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Buncombe [Franklin County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Johnson County
      • This Buncombe is located in Johnson County and lies 373 miles [600.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Buncombe that is located in Sullivan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Buncombe.
    • Iowa
      • Dubuque 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 Iowa community of Buncombe [Dubuque County].
    • Kentucky
      • Knott 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 Kentucky community of Buncombe [Knott County].
    • Louisiana
      • Caddo Parish
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Buncombe [Caddo Parish].
    • Wisconsin
      • Lafayette 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 Wisconsin community of Buncombe [Lafayette County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Buncombe ...

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.

  • Bluff City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bluff City is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,672 people
    • Former name for Bluff City:
    • Zollicoffer
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluff City <4>
  • Buffalo
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Buffalo is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
  • Cross
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cross is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross
    • Estimated population in 2014: 11,330 people
  • Earheart ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Earheart is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earheart
  • Gross Crossroad
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gross Crossroad is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gross Crossroad
  • Gunnings
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Gunnings is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunnings
  • Hill Country
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hill Country is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Country
  • Maple Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Maple Hill is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
  • Rock Hill Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rock Hill Park is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill Park
  • Rocky Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rocky Springs is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
  • Sunny Brook
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunny Brook is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Brook
  • Sunny Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunny Hills is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Hills
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Sunrise Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Sunrise Valley is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Valley
    • Tennessee Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Tennessee Hills is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennessee Hills
    • Valley Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Valley Hills is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Hills
    • Walnut Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Windy Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Windy Hill is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy Hill

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

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

  • Blountville, which is the Seat of Sullivan County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 249 miles [400.7 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Buncombe to Nashville, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 332 miles [534.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,225 miles [10,018.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,933 miles [11,157.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,809 miles [7,739.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Buncombe, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Buncombe) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Buncombe 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 Buncombe 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 Buncombe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5118, Longitude: -82.3171       In this case, the coordinates for Buncombe have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.089 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.734 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.717 degrees.