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

Tidbits & Trivia

Introduction ...

Below is our collection of tidbits and odds 'n ends for Island Home.

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Island Home, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Island Home 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 Island Home:
    • 35.955917, -83.884627<1>
    • 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 Island Home
  • 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 Knox County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox County
    • Since Island Home is near Hamilton County and also Blount County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamilton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount 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 Island Home

Communities Also Named Island Home ...

We found one communities that are also named Island Home.

Within Tennessee, the name Island Home is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, there is another community also named Island Home in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Island Home, Tallapoosa County
      • This Island Home is located in Tallapoosa County and lies 243 miles [391.1 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Island Home that is located in Knox County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tallapoosa County community of Island Home.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Island Home ...

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.

  • Arrowhead
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Arrowhead is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
  • Beverly
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Beverly is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
  • Bonny Kate
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Bonny Kate is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonny Kate
  • Colonial Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Colonial Village is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Forks of the River
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Forks of the River is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks of the River
  • Grandview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Grandview is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Greenway
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenway is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
  • High Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • High Bluff is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bluff
  • Lincoln Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln Park is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Loveland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Loveland is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
  • Marble City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Marble City is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble City
  • Marbledale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Marbledale is also located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marbledale
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Mule Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Mule Hollow is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mule Hollow
    • Oak Grove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Oak Grove is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Park City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Park City is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
    • Ruggles Ferry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ruggles Ferry is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruggles Ferry
    • Shooks
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Shooks is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shooks
    • Spring Place
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Spring Place is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Place
    • Stock Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Stock Creek is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stock Creek
    • Timberlake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Timberlake is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlake
    • Whittle Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Whittle Springs is also located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittle Springs

How Far From Island Home 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 included the distance from a community such as Island Home to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Knoxville, which is the Seat of Knox County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 162 miles [260.7 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Island Home to Nashville, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 426 miles [685.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 25 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,315 miles [10,163 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,026 miles [11,307.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,902 miles [7,889 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>

Footnotes ...

<1>GPS Coordinates for Island Home:
     Decimal: 35.95591, -83.884627
     DDMMSS: 35° 57' 21", -83° 53' 4"
<2>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- Island Home) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Island Home 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 Island Home. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9559, Longitude: -83.8846       In this case, the coordinates for Island Home have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.022 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.723 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.521 degrees.