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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lofton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lofton 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 Lofton:
    • 35.928675, -86.272491
    • 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 Lofton
  • 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 Rutherford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rutherford County
    • Since Lofton is near Wilson County and also Cannon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cannon 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 Lofton

Communities Also Named Lofton ...

We found four communities that are also named Lofton.

Within Tennessee, the name Lofton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Garland County
      • This Lofton is located in Garland County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Lofton that is located in Rutherford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Garland County community of Lofton.
    • Florida
      • Nassau 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 Lofton [Nassau County].
    • Louisiana
      • Winn Parish
      • This Lofton is located in Winn Parish and lies 471 miles [758 km]<1> to the southwest of the Lofton that is located in Rutherford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winn Parish community of Lofton.
    • Virginia
      • Augusta County
      • This Lofton is located in Augusta County and lies 416 miles [669.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Lofton that is located in Rutherford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Augusta County community of Lofton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lofton ...

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.

  • Double Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Double Springs is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Springs
  • Fieldcrest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Fieldcrest is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldcrest
  • Georgetown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Georgetown is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Greenvale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenvale is located in Wilson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenvale
  • Halls Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Halls Hill is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
  • Henry Lane
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Henry Lane is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry Lane
  • Hurricane
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hurricane is located in Wilson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane
  • Indian Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Indian Springs is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Jamestown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jamestown is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
    • Estimated population in 2014: 1,940 people
  • Oregon ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Oregon is located in Wilson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon
  • Porterfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Porterfield is located in Cannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterfield
  • Quail Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Quail Run is located in Rutherford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Ravenwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Ravenwood is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Readyville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Regency Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Regency Park is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency Park
    • Riverbend
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Riverbend is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverbend
    • Riverview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Riverview is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Riverwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Riverwood is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Silver Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Silver Hill is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hill
    • Twin Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Twin Springs is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs
    • Two Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Two Hills is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Hills
    • Vine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Vine is located in Wilson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vine

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

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

  • Murfreesboro, which is the Seat of Rutherford County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 32 miles [51.5 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Lofton to Nashville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 546 miles [878.7 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 22 days and walking would take 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,415 miles [10,323.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,131 miles [11,476.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,007 miles [8,058 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Lofton) 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 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 Lofton 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Lofton 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 Lofton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9287, Longitude: -86.2725       In this case, the coordinates for Lofton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.473 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.388 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.529 degrees.