RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Robertson County >> Cross Plains >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cross Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cross Plains 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 Cross Plains:
    • 36.548414, -86.696305
    • 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 Cross Plains
  • 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 Robertson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Robertson County
    • Since Cross Plains is near Sumner County and also Simpson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumner County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Simpson 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 Cross Plains

Communities Also Named Cross Plains ...

We found six communities that are also named Cross Plains.

Within Tennessee, the name Cross Plains is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Carroll County
      • This Cross Plains is located in Carroll County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cross Plains that is located in Robertson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Cross Plains.
    • Illinois
      • Sangamon County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Cross Plains [Sangamon County].
    • Indiana
      • Ripley County
      • This Cross Plains is located in Ripley County and lies 184 miles [296.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Cross Plains that is located in Robertson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ripley County community of Cross Plains.
    • South Carolina
      • Greenville County
      • This Cross Plains is located in Greenville County and lies 259 miles [416.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cross Plains that is located in Robertson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenville County community of Cross Plains.
    • Texas
      • Callahan County
      • This Cross Plains is located in Callahan County and lies 772 miles [1,242.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Cross Plains that is located in Robertson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Callahan County community of Cross Plains.
    • Wisconsin
      • Dane County
      • This Cross Plains is located in Dane County and lies 479 miles [770.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Cross Plains that is located in Robertson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dane County community of Cross Plains.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cross Plains ...

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.

  • Bobwhite ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Bobwhite is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bobwhite
  • Cherry Mount ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Mount is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Mount
  • Eden Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Eden Corner is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Corner
  • Green Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Valley is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Hall Town
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Hall Town is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall Town
    • Estimated population in 2014: 2,202 people
  • Lakeview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lakeview is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Mitchell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Mitchell is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
    • Estimated population in 2014: 198 people
  • Providence
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Providence is located in Simpson County (KY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Scattersville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Scattersville is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scattersville
  • Two Chestnut
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Two Chestnut is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Chestnut
  • Walnut Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

How Far From Cross Plains 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 city such as Cross Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Springfield, which is the Seat of Robertson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cross Plains to Springfield, with an average speed<3> 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 551 miles [886.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,402 miles [10,303 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,122 miles [11,461.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,998 miles [8,043.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cross Plains) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Cross Plains 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.
<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 Cross Plains 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 Cross Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5484, Longitude: -86.6963       In this case, the coordinates for Cross Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.757 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.802 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.559 degrees.