RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Lewis County >> Metal Ford >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Metal Ford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Metal Ford 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 Metal Ford:
    • 35.464243, -87.521685
    • 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 Metal Ford
  • 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 Lewis County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis County
    • Since Metal Ford is near Lawrence County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Metal Ford

Curious and Interesting Names Near Metal Ford ...

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.

  • Blondy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Blondy is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blondy
  • Buffalo Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Buffalo Valley is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Valley
  • Howard ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Howard is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
  • Kitchens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Kitchens is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitchens
  • Nancy ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Nancy is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy
  • Oak Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Providence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Providence is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Springer Ridge ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Springer Ridge is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springer Ridge
  • Sweetwater
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Sweetwater is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
  • Turkey Track
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Turkey Track is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Track

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Metal Ford and extending to:

  • Hohenwald, which is the Seat of Lewis County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 63 miles [101.4 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Metal Ford to Nashville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 623 miles [1,002.6 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 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,488 miles [10,441.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,206 miles [11,596.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,081 miles [8,177.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Metal Ford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Metal Ford 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 Metal Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4642, Longitude: -87.5217       In this case, the coordinates for Metal Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.224 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.189 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.168 degrees.