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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Olio, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Olio 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 Olio:
    • 36.440330, -85.994429
    • 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 Olio
  • 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 Macon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Macon County
    • Since Olio is near Trousdale County and also Smith County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Trousdale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smith 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 Olio

Communities Also Named Olio ...

We found six communities that are also named Olio.

There is one other community in Tennessee that is also named Olio.

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

  • Communities Located In Tennessee ...
    • Van Buren County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Olio [Van Buren County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Scott County
      • This Olio is located in Scott County and lies 452 miles [727.4 km]<2> to the west of the Olio that is located in Macon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Olio.
    • Indiana
      • Hamilton County
      • This Olio is located in Hamilton County and lies 243 miles [391.1 km]<2> to the north of the Olio that is located in Macon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Olio.
    • Mississippi
      • Amite County
      • This Olio is located in Amite County and lies 467 miles [751.6 km]<2> to the southwest of the Olio that is located in Macon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amite County community of Olio.
    • New Mexico
      • San Juan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Olio [San Juan County].
    • South Carolina
      • Anderson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Olio [Anderson County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Olio ...

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.

  • Beech Bottom
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Beech Bottom is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Bottom
  • Cartwright
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cartwright is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartwright
  • Days Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Days Crossroads is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Days Crossroads
  • Difficult
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Difficult is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Difficult
    • Estimated population in 2014: 14,993 people
  • Frog Pond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Frog Pond is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Pond
  • Graveltown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Graveltown is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graveltown
  • Gum Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Gum Springs is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Halltown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Halltown is located in Trousdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halltown
  • Johntown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Johntown is located in Trousdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johntown
  • Kirby
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Kirby is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirby
  • Macey
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Macey is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macey
  • Mill Town
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Mill Town is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • New Harmony
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • New Harmony is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Harmony
    • Pleasant Shade
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Prosperity
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Prosperity is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
    • Rock House
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Rock House is located in Trousdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock House
    • Sycamore Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sycamore Valley is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Valley

How Far From Olio to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Olio to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Lafayette, which is the Seat of Macon County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Olio to Nashville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 517 miles [832 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 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,379 miles [10,266 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,097 miles [11,421.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,972 miles [8,001.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Olio, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Olio) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Olio 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Olio 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 Olio. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4403, Longitude: -85.9944       In this case, the coordinates for Olio have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.319 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.283 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.283 degrees.