RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Hancock County >> Seal Mathis >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Seal Mathis, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Seal Mathis 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 Seal Mathis:
    • 36.506187, -83.263643
    • 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 Seal Mathis
  • 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 Hancock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock County
    • Since Seal Mathis is near Hawkins County and also Claiborne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hawkins County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Claiborne 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 Seal Mathis

Curious and Interesting Names Near Seal Mathis ...

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.

  • Bald Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bald Point is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Point
  • Big Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Big Creek is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
  • Chestnut Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Chestnut Grove is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Grove
  • Dry Branch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Dry Branch is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
  • Duck Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Duck Creek is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Creek
  • Friendship
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Friendship is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Frost Ford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Frost Ford is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost Ford
  • Hoop Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hoop Creek is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoop Creek
  • Howard Quarter
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Howard Quarter is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Quarter
  • Lee Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lee Valley is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Valley
  • Luther
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Luther is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
  • Martin Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Martin Creek is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Creek
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Rock Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Rock Hill is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
    • Spruce Pine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Spruce Pine is located in Hawkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
    • Sunnyside
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunnyside is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Treadway
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Treadway is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treadway
    • Yellow Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Yellow Springs is located in Claiborne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Springs

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Seal Mathis and extending to:

  • Sneedville, which is the Seat of Hancock County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 196 miles [315.4 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Seal Mathis to Nashville, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 378 miles [608.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,264 miles [10,080.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,975 miles [11,225.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,851 miles [7,806.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Seal Mathis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Seal Mathis 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 Seal Mathis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5062, Longitude: -83.2636       In this case, the coordinates for Seal Mathis have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.656 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.383 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.111 degrees.