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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Catalpa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Catalpa and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Catalpa:
    • 35.319521, -86.711943
    • 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 Catalpa
  • 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 Marshall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall County
    • Since Catalpa is near Lincoln County and also Bedford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford 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 Catalpa

Communities Also Named Catalpa ...

We found nine communities that are also named Catalpa.

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

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

  • Communities Located In Tennessee ...
    • Madison 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 Tennessee community of Catalpa [Madison County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Pike County
      • This Catalpa is located in Pike County and lies 242 miles [389.5 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Catalpa that is located in Marshall County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Catalpa.
    • Arkansas
      • Johnson County
      • This Catalpa is located in Johnson County and lies 383 miles [616.4 km]<2> to the west of the Catalpa that is located in Marshall County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Catalpa.
    • Kansas
      • Gove 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 Kansas community of Catalpa [Gove County].
    • Kentucky
      • Lawrence County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Catalpa [Lawrence County].
    • Louisiana
      • West Feliciana Parish
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Catalpa [West Feliciana Parish].
    • Missouri
      • Mississippi County
      • This Catalpa is located in Mississippi County and lies 180 miles [289.7 km]<2> to the northwest of the Catalpa that is located in Marshall County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of Catalpa.
    • Nebraska
      • Holt County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Catalpa [Holt County].
    • Virginia
      • Culpeper County
      • This Catalpa is located in Culpeper County and lies 529 miles [851.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Catalpa that is located in Marshall County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Culpeper County community of Catalpa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Catalpa ...

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.

  • Archer
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Archer is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
  • Branchville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Branchville is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
  • Browns Shop
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Browns Shop is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Shop
  • Cornersville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Ebenezer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ebenezer is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
  • Gnat Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Gnat Grove is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gnat Grove
  • Graball
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Graball is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graball
  • Jerusalem
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jerusalem is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem
  • Luna
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Luna is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
  • Red Oak
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Red Oak is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
  • Sulphur Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Yell
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Yell is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yell

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

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

  • Lewisburg, which is the Seat of Marshall County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Catalpa to Lewisburg, with an average speed<5> 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 58 miles [93.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 586 miles [943.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,462 miles [10,399.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,177 miles [11,550.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,053 miles [8,132 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Catalpa 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Catalpa) 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 Catalpa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Catalpa 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 Catalpa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3195, Longitude: -86.7119       In this case, the coordinates for Catalpa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.718 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.585 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.859 degrees.