Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Prairie Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Prairie Plains and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Prairie Plains
- 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 Prairie Plains:
- 35.343691, -85.966093
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Prairie Plains
- 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 Coffee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Coffee County
- Since Prairie Plains is near Franklin County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- eBird sighting report for Grundy 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Prairie Plains ...
We found two communities that share the name Prairie Plains.
Within Tennessee, the name Prairie Plains is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Butler County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Prairie Plains [Butler County].
- Texas
- Grimes County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Grimes County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grimes County community of Prairie Plains.
- Kansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Prairie Plains ...
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.
- Calls
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Dixie ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Elkhead
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Glen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Gum Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Oak Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Providence
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Grundy County
- Ruthledge Ford
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruthledge Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthledge Ford
- Ruthledge Ford is located in Coffee County
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,116 people
- Ruthledge Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruthledge Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthledge Hill
- Ruthledge Hill is located in Coffee County
- Shady Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Franklin County
- Valley Home
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Home have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Home
- Valley Home is located in Grundy County
How Far From Prairie Plains 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 Prairie Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Prairie Plains and extending to:
- Manchester, which is the Seat of Coffee County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Prairie Plains to Manchester, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 549 miles [883.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,430 miles [10,348.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,144 miles [11,497.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,019 miles [8,077.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Prairie Plains. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Coffee County: www.coffeecountytn.org/
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Prairie Plains 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. |
| <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 Prairie Plains, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Prairie Plains) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Prairie Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3437, Longitude: -85.9661 In this case, the coordinates for Prairie Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Prairie Plains to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.263 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.064 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.541 degrees. |