Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lilac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lilac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lilac
- 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 Lilac:
- 36.070095, -83.233219
- 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 Lilac
- 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 Cocke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cocke County
- Since Lilac is near Jefferson County and also Hamblen County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- eBird sighting report for Hamblen 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 Lilac ...
We found six communities that share the name Lilac.
Within Tennessee, the name Lilac is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lilac ...
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.
- Fowler Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fowler Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Grove
- Fowler Grove is located in Cocke County
- 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.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
- Gum Spring is located in Cocke County
- High Point
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- High Point is located in Cocke County
- Leadvale
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Liberty Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Liberty Hill is located in Cocke County
- Lynndale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Oak Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Point Pleasant
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
- Point Pleasant is located in Cocke County
- Redwine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Robinson Ferry
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robinson Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Ferry
- Robinson Ferry is located in Cocke County
How Far From Lilac 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 Lilac 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 community of Lilac once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Lilac and extending to:
- Newport, which is the Seat of Cocke County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 197 miles [317 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Lilac to Nashville, with an average speed<5>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 391 miles [629.3 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,283 miles [10,111.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,992 miles [11,252.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,868 miles [7,834.3 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lilac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lilac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0701, Longitude: -83.2332 In this case, the coordinates for Lilac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Lilac, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Lilac 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> | 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. |
| <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 Lilac 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 311.633 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.294 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.221 degrees. |