Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Luke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Luke and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Luke
- 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 Luke:
- 36.359826, -82.566539
- 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 Luke
- 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since Luke is near Greene County and also Sullivan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Greene County
- eBird sighting report for Sullivan 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 Luke ...
We found nine communities that share the name Luke.
Within Tennessee, the name Luke is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Manitoba
- This Luke lies 1,490 miles [2,397.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Luke that is located in Washington County.
- Maryland
- Nevada
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Luke ...
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.
- Big Sandy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Christie ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Ducktown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - February
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Gabtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Harmony
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Hartmantown
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartmantown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartmantown
- Hartmantown is located in Washington County
- Haws Crossroads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haws Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haws Crossroads
- Haws Crossroads is located in Washington County
- Keebler Crossroads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keebler Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keebler Crossroads
- Keebler Crossroads is located in Washington County
- Keys Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Leesburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Locust Mount
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Locust Mount. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Mount
- Locust Mount is located in Washington County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Mayflower ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Meadowbrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Meadowbrook is located in Washington County
- Mitchell Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mitchell Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell Springs
- Mitchell Springs is located in Washington County
- Sulphur Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Sulphur Springs is located in Washington County
- Mayflower ‑ Historic
How Far From Luke 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 Luke 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 Luke once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Luke and extending to:
- Jonesborough, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 234 miles [376.6 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Luke to Nashville, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 349 miles [561.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,242 miles [10,045.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,950 miles [11,184.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,827 miles [7,768.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Washington County: www.washingtoncountytn.com/
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Luke) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Luke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3598, Longitude: -82.5665 In this case, the coordinates for Luke have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Luke 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> | 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 Luke, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Luke to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.238 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.882 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.864 degrees. |