Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rule, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rule and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rule
- 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 Rule:
- 36.313412, -83.921860
- 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 Rule
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since Rule is near Campbell County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Campbell County
- eBird sighting report for Anderson 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 Rule ...
We found three communities that share the name Rule.
Within Tennessee, the name Rule is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rule ...
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.
- Cloud Ford
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloud Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloud Ford
- Cloud Ford is located in Union County
- Duke ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Forkvale ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Hurricane Branch ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hurricane Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane Branch
- Hurricane Branch is located in Union County
- Irwin
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Long Hollow ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hollow
- Long Hollow is located in Union County
- Loo ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Lost Creek ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lost Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Creek
- Lost Creek is located in Union County
- Mossy Spring
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mossy Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossy Spring
- Mossy Spring is located in Union County
- Walnut Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Campbell County
How Far From Rule 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 Rule 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<4> community of Rule once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Rule and extending to:
- Maynardville, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Rule to Nashville, with an average speed<5>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 416 miles [669.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,301 miles [10,140.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,012 miles [11,284.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,888 miles [7,866.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Union County: www.unioncountytn.org/
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Rule) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rule. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3134, Longitude: -83.9219 In this case, the coordinates for Rule have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Rule 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> | 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> | 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 Rule, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Rule 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 312.051 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.808 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.44 degrees. |