Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sill
- 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 Sill:
- 36.287302, -83.895470
- 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 Sill
- 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 Sill 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sill ...
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
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloud Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Hurricane Branch ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hurricane Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane Branch
- Hurricane Branch is located in Union County
- Irwin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Lickskillet
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lickskillet have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
- Lickskillet is located in Union County
- Loo ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Lost Creek ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lost Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Creek
- Lost Creek is located in Union County
- Mossy Spring
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mossy Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossy Spring
- Mossy Spring is located in Union County
- Pinhook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Raccoon Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raccoon Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raccoon Valley
- Raccoon Valley is located in Union County
- Rule ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Walnut Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 Sill 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 Sill 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<2> community of Sill once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Sill and extending to:
- Maynardville, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 160 miles [257.5 km]<3> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Sill 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 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<5> 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).<6>
- 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).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,888 miles [7,866.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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> | 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. |
| <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 Sill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Sill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2873, Longitude: -83.8955 In this case, the coordinates for Sill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Sill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.034 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.785 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.436 degrees. |