RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Knox County >> Byrd Chapel >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Byrd Chapel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Byrd Chapel 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 Byrd Chapel:
    • 35.925079, -84.169083
    • 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 Byrd Chapel
  • 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 Knox County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox County
    • Since Byrd Chapel is near Loudon County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anderson 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 Byrd Chapel

Curious and Interesting Names Near Byrd Chapel ...

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.

  • Ball Camp
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ball Camp is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Camp
  • Cedar Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Bluff is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
  • Cedar Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Springs is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
  • Fox Den
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fox Den is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Den
  • Gulf Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Gulf Park is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Park
  • Gulfwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Gulfwood is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulfwood
  • Hickory Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hickory Woods is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Woods
  • Kingsgate
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Kingsgate is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsgate
  • Plum Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Plum Creek is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Creek
  • Robinson Crossroads
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Robinson Crossroads is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Crossroads
  • Spanish Trails
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Spanish Trails is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Trails
  • Station West
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Station West is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station West
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Sweet Briar
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Sweet Briar is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar
    • Trails End
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Trails End is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trails End
    • Twin Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Twin Springs is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs
    • Volunteer Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Volunteer Village is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volunteer Village
    • Woodland Trace
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Woodland Trace is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Trace

How Far From Byrd Chapel to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Byrd Chapel to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Byrd Chapel and extending to:

  • Knoxville, which is the Seat of Knox County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Byrd Chapel to Knoxville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 146 miles [235 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 441 miles [709.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 25 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,329 miles [10,185.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,040 miles [11,329.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,916 miles [7,911.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Byrd Chapel) 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 Byrd Chapel 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 Byrd Chapel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9251, Longitude: -84.1691       In this case, the coordinates for Byrd Chapel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.192 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.915 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.647 degrees.