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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ruthton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ruthton 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 Ruthton:
    • 36.548737, -82.120048
    • 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 Ruthton
  • 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 Sullivan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sullivan County
    • Since Ruthton is near Carter County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carter County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Ruthton

Communities Also Named Ruthton ...

We found four communities that are also named Ruthton.

Within Tennessee, the name Ruthton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Trego 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 Ruthton [Trego County].
    • Kentucky
      • Madison County
      • This Ruthton is located in Madison County and lies 151 miles [243 km]<2> to the northwest of the Ruthton that is located in Sullivan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Ruthton.
    • Minnesota
      • Pipestone County
      • This Ruthton is located in Pipestone County and lies 902 miles [1,451.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the Ruthton that is located in Sullivan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pipestone County community of Ruthton.
    • Nebraska
      • Keith County
      • This Ruthton is located in Keith County and lies 1,114 miles [1,792.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Ruthton that is located in Sullivan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Keith County community of Ruthton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ruthton ...

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.

  • Big Creek ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Creek is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
  • Cedar Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Valley is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
  • Cold Spring
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cold Spring is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Edgefield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Edgefield is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgefield
  • Emmett
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Emmett is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmett
  • Evergreen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Evergreen is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Fishdam ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Fishdam is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishdam
  • Hickory Tree
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hickory Tree is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Tree
  • Hunter Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hunter Hills is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Hills
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,854 people
  • Painter Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Painter Spring is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painter Spring
  • Paperville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Paperville is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paperville
  • Presbytery Camp
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Presbytery Camp is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Presbytery Camp
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Redstone
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Redstone is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone
    • Ridgedale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Ridgedale is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgedale
    • Stonegate
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Stonegate is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
    • Sugarville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sugarville is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarville
    • Vinegar Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Vinegar Hill is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinegar Hill
    • Weaver
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Weaver is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver

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

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

  • Blountville, which is the Seat of Sullivan County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Ruthton to Blountville, with an average speed<3> 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 260 miles [418.4 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 321 miles [516.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,215 miles [10,002.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,799 miles [7,723.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Ruthton 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ruthton) 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 Ruthton 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 Ruthton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5487, Longitude: -82.1200       In this case, the coordinates for Ruthton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.972 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.605 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.625 degrees.