RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Grainger County >> May Springs >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in May Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to May Springs 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 May Springs:
    • 36.207867, -83.462398
    • 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 May Springs
  • 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 Grainger County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grainger County
    • Since May Springs is near Hamblen County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamblen County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 May Springs

Curious and Interesting Names Near May Springs ...

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.

  • Alpha
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Alpha is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Cherokee
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cherokee is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
  • Fox Den
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fox Den is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Den
  • Green Acres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Hammer Store
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hammer Store is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammer Store
  • Hunters Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hunters Ridge is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Ridge
  • Kathy Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kathy Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kathy Hills
  • Meadowview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Meadowview is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
  • Oars Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Oars Ferry is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oars Ferry
  • Panther Creek ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Panther Creek is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Creek
  • Panther Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Panther Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Hills
  • Panther Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Panther Lake is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Lake
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Pleasant view
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pleasant view is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant view
    • Point Seven
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Point Seven is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Seven
    • Quail Hollow
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Quail Hollow is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
    • Rambling Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Rambling Hills is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rambling Hills
    • Rock Town
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Rock Town is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Town
    • Seven Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Seven Oaks is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
    • Smokerise
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Smokerise is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smokerise
    • Wilderness Shores
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Wilderness Shores is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilderness Shores
    • Willow Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Willow Springs is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

How Far From May Springs 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 May Springs 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<1> community of May Springs once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in May Springs and extending to:

  • Rutledge, which is the Seat of Grainger County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 184 miles [296.1 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from May Springs to Nashville, with an average speed<3>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 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 397 miles [638.9 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,286 miles [10,116.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,997 miles [11,260.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,873 miles [7,842.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 May Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- May Springs) 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 May Springs 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 May Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2079, Longitude: -83.4624       In this case, the coordinates for May Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.772 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.473 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.277 degrees.