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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Opossum, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Opossum 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 Opossum:
    • 35.709800, -89.564520
    • 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 Opossum
  • 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 Lauderdale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
    • Since Opossum is near Tipton County and also Haywood County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tipton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Haywood 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 Opossum

Communities Also Named Opossum ...

We found one communities that are also named Opossum.

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

Beyond Tennessee.

  • Communities Located In Tennessee ...
    • Hawkins 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 Opossum [Hawkins County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Opossum ...

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.

  • Central
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Central is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
  • Cherry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Cherry is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry
  • Curve
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Curve is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curve
  • Edith
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Edith is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edith
  • Edward Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Edward Grove is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edward Grove
  • Hurricane Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Hurricane Hill is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane Hill
  • Lightfoot
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lightfoot is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lightfoot
  • Nutbush
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Nutbush is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutbush
  • Olive Branch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Olive Branch is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Branch
  • Pleasant Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Solo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Solo is located in Tipton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solo
  • Three Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Three Point is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Point

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Opossum and extending to:

  • Ripley, which is the Seat of Lauderdale County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 158 miles [254.3 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Opossum to Nashville, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 721 miles [1,160.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,557 miles [10,552.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,281 miles [11,717.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,157 miles [8,299.4 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 Opossum, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Opossum) 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 Opossum 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 Opossum. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7098, Longitude: -89.5645       In this case, the coordinates for Opossum have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.518 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.717 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.997 degrees.