RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Hamblen County >> Hales Crossroads >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hales Crossroads, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hales Crossroads 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 Hales Crossroads:
    • 36.144261, -83.254333
    • 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 Hales Crossroads
  • 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 Hamblen County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamblen County
    • Since Hales Crossroads is near Cocke County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cocke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 Hales Crossroads

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hales Crossroads ...

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.

  • Eureka Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Eureka Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Hills
  • Hillcrest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hillcrest is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Holly Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hills
  • Kingswood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Kingswood is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
  • Lakeview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeview is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Leadvale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Leadvale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadvale
  • Lynndale
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Lynndale is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynndale
  • Point Pleasant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Point Pleasant is located in Cocke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
  • Redwine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Redwine is located in Cocke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwine
  • Robinson Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Robinson Ferry is located in Cocke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Ferry
  • Roe Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Roe Junction is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roe Junction
  • Rolling Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Springvale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Springvale is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springvale
    • Sulphur Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
    • Tigertown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Tigertown is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigertown
    • Union Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Union Heights is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Heights

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

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

  • Morristown, which is the Seat of Hamblen County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 196 miles [315.4 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Hales Crossroads to Nashville, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 389 miles [626 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,281 miles [10,108.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,990 miles [11,249.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,866 miles [7,831.1 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hales Crossroads) 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 Hales Crossroads 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 Hales Crossroads. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1443, Longitude: -83.2543       In this case, the coordinates for Hales Crossroads have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.647 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.32 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.209 degrees.