Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Elijah, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elijah and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Elijah
- 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 Elijah:
- 35.958953, -85.550256
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Elijah
- 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 White County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for White County
- Since Elijah is near DeKalb County and also Putnam County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- eBird sighting report for Putnam 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Elijah ...
We found three communities that share the name Elijah.
Within Tennessee, the name Elijah is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elijah ...
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.
- Black Oak
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Center Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
- Center Point is located in White County
- Dixieland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Drop ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Grace ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Gum Spring
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gum Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
- Gum Spring is located in White County
- Hickory Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Hickory Hills is located in White County
- Methodist ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Oliveville ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oliveville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliveville
- Oliveville is located in White County
- Peeled Chestnut
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peeled Chestnut have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeled Chestnut
- Peeled Chestnut is located in White County
- Rainbow Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainbow Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Hills
- Rainbow Hills is located in White County
- Shady Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in White County
- Walnut Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in White County
- Whispering Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Hills
- Whispering Hills is located in White County
How Far From Elijah 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 Elijah to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Elijah once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Elijah and extending to:
- Sparta, which is the Seat of White County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 69 miles [111 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Elijah to Nashville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 508 miles [817.5 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 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,384 miles [10,274.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,099 miles [11,424.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,974 miles [8,004.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
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- Elijah) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elijah. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9590, Longitude: -85.5503 In this case, the coordinates for Elijah have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Elijah 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | 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 Elijah, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Elijah to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.031 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.884 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.216 degrees. |