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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Phosphate, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Phosphate 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 Phosphate:
    • 36.454212, -86.408603
    • 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 Phosphate
  • 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 Sumner County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumner County
    • Since Phosphate is near Wilson County and also Trousdale County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Trousdale 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 Phosphate

Communities Also Named Phosphate ...

We found three communities that are also named Phosphate.

Within Tennessee, the name Phosphate is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Independence 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 Arkansas community of Phosphate [Independence County].
    • Florida
      • DeSoto County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Phosphate [DeSoto County].
    • Montana
      • Powell County
      • This Phosphate is located in Powell County and lies 1,525 miles [2,454.2 km]<3> to the northwest of the Phosphate that is located in Sumner County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Powell County community of Phosphate.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Phosphate ...

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.

  • Angeltown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Angeltown is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angeltown
  • Cages Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cages Ferry is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cages Ferry
  • Cairo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cairo is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
  • Cairo Bend Ferry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Cairo Bend Ferry is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo Bend Ferry
  • Cedar Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Chestnut Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Grove is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Grove
  • Chestnut Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Chipman
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Chipman is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chipman
  • Cottontown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Fountain Head
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fountain Head is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Head
  • Graball
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Graball is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graball
  • Hartsville Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hartsville Junction is located in Sumner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsville Junction
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Hickory Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hickory Grove is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
    • Kansas
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Kansas is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas
    • Oak Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Oak Grove is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Rival ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Rival is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rival
    • Rock Bridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Rock Bridge is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Bridge
    • Sideview ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Sideview is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sideview
    • Woods Ferry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Woods Ferry is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Ferry

How Far From Phosphate 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 Phosphate 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 community of Phosphate once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Phosphate and extending to:

  • Gallatin, which is the Seat of Sumner County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Phosphate to Nashville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 538 miles [865.8 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 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,395 miles [10,291.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,114 miles [11,448.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,989 miles [8,029 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 Phosphate, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 Phosphate 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.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Phosphate) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Phosphate 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 Phosphate. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4542, Longitude: -86.4086       In this case, the coordinates for Phosphate have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.575 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.58 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.458 degrees.