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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elkins, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elkins 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 Elkins:
    • 35.822567, -87.480293
    • 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 Elkins
  • 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 Hickman County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hickman County
    • Since Elkins is near Dickson County and also Humphreys County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dickson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Humphreys 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 Elkins

Communities Also Named Elkins ...

We found ten communities that are also named Elkins.

There are two communities within Tennessee that are also named Elkins.

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

  • Communities Located In Tennessee ...
    • Cannon 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 Elkins [Cannon County].
    • Franklin County
      • This Elkins is located in Franklin County and lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Elkins that is located in Hickman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Elkins.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Mississippi 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 Arkansas community of Elkins [Mississippi County].
      • Washington County
      • This Elkins is located in Washington County and lies 365 miles [587.4 km]<2> to the west of the Elkins that is located in Hickman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Elkins.
    • Louisiana
      • Caddo Parish
      • This Elkins is located in Caddo Parish and lies 433 miles [696.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Elkins that is located in Hickman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caddo Parish community of Elkins.
    • New Hampshire
      • Merrimack County
      • This Elkins is located in Merrimack County and lies 976 miles [1,570.7 km]<2> to the northeast of the Elkins that is located in Hickman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Merrimack County community of Elkins.
    • New Mexico
      • Chaves 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 New Mexico community of Elkins [Chaves County].
      • Colfax County
      • This community is historic and although located in Colfax County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Colfax County community of Elkins.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax 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 Virginia community of Elkins [Fairfax County].
    • West Virginia
      • Randolph County
      • This Elkins is located in Randolph County and lies 469 miles [754.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Elkins that is located in Hickman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Elkins.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elkins ...

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.

  • Bond
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bond is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bond
  • Buffalo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Buffalo is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
  • Centerville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Crossroads is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Fogg ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fogg is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fogg
  • Graham
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Graham is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
  • Graytown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Graytown is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graytown
    • Estimated population in 2014: 1,528 people
  • Littlelot
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Littlelot is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlelot
  • Salt Lick
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Salt Lick is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Lick
    • Estimated population in 2014: 508 people
  • Spot
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Spot is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spot
  • Sunrise
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Sunrise is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise
  • Swan Bluff
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Swan Bluff is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Bluff

How Far From Elkins to ...

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

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

  • Centerville, which is the Seat of Hickman County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 45 miles [72.4 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Elkins to Nashville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 610 miles [981.7 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 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,469 miles [10,410.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,188 miles [11,568 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,063 miles [8,148.1 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 Elkins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Elkins) 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 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 Elkins 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 Elkins 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 Elkins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8226, Longitude: -87.4803       In this case, the coordinates for Elkins have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.216 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.229 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.069 degrees.