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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Selkirk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Selkirk 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 Selkirk:
    • 35.902855, -84.354092
    • 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 Selkirk
  • 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Since Selkirk is near Loudon County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudon County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Selkirk

Communities Also Named Selkirk ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Selkirk.

Within Tennessee, the name Selkirk is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, eight are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Wichita 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 Kansas community of Selkirk [Wichita County].
    • Manitoba
      • This Selkirk lies 1,166 miles [1,876.5 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
    • Michigan
      • Ogemaw County
      • This Selkirk is located in Ogemaw County and lies 580 miles [933.4 km]<2> to the north of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ogemaw County community of Selkirk.
    • Missouri
      • Laclede County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Selkirk [Laclede County].
      • New Madrid County
      • This Selkirk is located in New Madrid County and lies 289 miles [465.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Madrid County community of Selkirk.
    • New York
      • Albany County
      • This Selkirk is located in Albany County and lies 725 miles [1,166.8 km]<2> to the northeast of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albany County community of Selkirk.
      • Oswego County
      • This Selkirk is located in Oswego County and lies 683 miles [1,099.2 km] to the northeast of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oswego County community of Selkirk.
    • Ontario
      • This Selkirk lies 533 miles [857.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Warren County
      • This Selkirk is located in Warren County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Selkirk.
    • Prince Edward Island
      • This Selkirk lies 1,344 miles [2,163 km]<2> to the northeast of the Selkirk that is located in Roane County.
    • South Carolina
      • Marion County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Selkirk [Marion County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Selkirk ...

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.

  • Bear ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bear is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear
  • Buttermilk Shores
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Buttermilk Shores is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttermilk Shores
  • Chestnut Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Chestnut Hills is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
  • Gallagher Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gallagher Ferry is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallagher Ferry
  • Oral
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Oral is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
  • Pawpaw Plains
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pawpaw Plains is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawpaw Plains
  • Poplar Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Poplar Springs is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
  • Union
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Union is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
  • Wheat ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Wheat is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheat
  • Williams Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Williams Ferry is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ferry
  • Woodlawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodlawn is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

  • Kingston, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies just to the West.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Selkirk to Nashville, with an average speed<4>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 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 451 miles [725.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,337 miles [10,198.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,049 miles [11,344.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,925 miles [7,926 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Selkirk, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Selkirk) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Selkirk 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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Selkirk 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 Selkirk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9029, Longitude: -84.3541       In this case, the coordinates for Selkirk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.304 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.039 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.73 degrees.