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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hydro, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hydro 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 Hydro:
    • 35.795065, -88.148094
    • 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 Hydro
  • 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 Decatur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Decatur County
    • Since Hydro is near Henderson County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henderson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll 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 Hydro

Communities Also Named Hydro ...

We found six communities that are also named Hydro.

Within Tennessee, the name Hydro is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of six communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Hydro lies 1,957 miles [3,149.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Hydro that is located in Decatur County.
    • Florida
      • Alachua 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 Florida community of Hydro [Alachua County].
    • Kentucky
      • Warren County
      • This Hydro is located in Warren County and lies 137 miles [220.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Hydro that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Hydro.
    • North Carolina
      • Stanly 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 North Carolina community of Hydro [Stanly County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Blaine County
      • This Hydro is located in Blaine County and lies 585 miles [941.5 km]<1> to the west of the Hydro that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blaine County community of Hydro.
    • Ontario
      • This Hydro lies 878 miles [1,413 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Hydro that is located in Decatur County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hydro ...

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.

  • Bible Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Bible Hill is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bible Hill
  • Chaseville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Chaseville is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
  • Cherokee Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherokee Heights is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Heights
  • Christian Chapel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Christian Chapel is located in Henderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Chapel
  • Farmville ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Farmville is located in Henderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
  • Five Forks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Five Forks is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Hickory Forks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Hickory Forks is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Forks
  • Maple Creek ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Maple Creek is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Creek
  • Pleasant Exchange ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Exchange is located in Henderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Exchange
  • Poplar Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Poplar Springs is located in Henderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
  • Sugar Tree
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Sugar Tree is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Tree
  • Sulphur Springs ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Yellow Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Yellow Springs is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Springs

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

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

  • Decaturville, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Hydro to Decaturville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 80 miles [128.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 645 miles [1,038 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,497 miles [10,455.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,218 miles [11,616.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,093 miles [8,196.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Hydro) 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 Hydro 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 Hydro 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 Hydro. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7951, Longitude: -88.1481       In this case, the coordinates for Hydro have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.631 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.704 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.363 degrees.