RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Williamson County >> Owl Creek >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Owl Creek, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Owl Creek 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 Owl Creek:
    • 35.997840, -86.702776
    • 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 Owl Creek
  • 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 Williamson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Williamson County
    • Since Owl Creek is near Davidson County and also Rutherford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Davidson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rutherford 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 Owl Creek

Communities Also Named Owl Creek ...

We found five communities that are also named Owl Creek.

Within Tennessee, the name Owl Creek is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Owl Creek lies 2,039 miles [3,281.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Owl Creek that is located in Williamson County.
    • Ohio
      • Knox County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Knox County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Owl Creek.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fulton 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 Pennsylvania community of Owl Creek [Fulton County].
    • Texas
      • Bell County
      • This Owl Creek is located in Bell County and lies 702 miles [1,129.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Owl Creek that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bell County community of Owl Creek.
    • Wyoming
      • Hot Springs County
      • This Owl Creek is located in Hot Springs County and lies 1,271 miles [2,045.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Owl Creek that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hot Springs County community of Owl Creek.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Owl Creek ...

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.

  • Bakertown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bakertown is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakertown
  • Carpenters ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Carpenters is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenters
  • Chestnut Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Crockett Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Crockett Cove is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett Cove
  • Crockett Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Crockett Hills is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett Hills
  • Crockett Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Crockett Springs is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett Springs
  • Fair Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Fountainhead
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Fountainhead is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountainhead
  • Hooker Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hooker Hills is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker Hills
  • Indian Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Indian Point is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
  • Jamestown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamestown is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
  • Meadowlake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Meadowlake is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowlake
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Pebble Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Pebble Creek is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Creek
    • Providence
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Providence is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Rocksprings
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rocksprings is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocksprings
    • Rural Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rural Hill is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural Hill
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,007 people
    • Stevens Shop ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Stevens Shop is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevens Shop
    • Stonebrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Stonebrook is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonebrook
    • Trinity
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Trinity is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
    • Walnut Ridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Walnut Ridge is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Ridge
    • Whispering Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Whispering Hills is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Hills

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

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

  • Franklin, which is the Seat of Williamson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Owl Creek to Franklin, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 12 miles [19.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 566 miles [910.9 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 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,429 miles [10,346.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,147 miles [11,502 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,022 miles [8,082.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Owl Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Owl Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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 Owl Creek 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 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.
<5>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 Owl Creek 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 Owl Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9978, Longitude: -86.7028       In this case, the coordinates for Owl Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.741 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.706 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.695 degrees.