RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Hardin County >> Smiths Fork >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smiths Fork, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smiths Fork 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 Smiths Fork:
    • 35.257024, -88.072253
    • 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 Smiths Fork
  • 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 Hardin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardin County
    • Since Smiths Fork is near Wayne County and also Decatur County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Decatur 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 Smiths Fork

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smiths Fork ...

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.

  • Bucktown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Bucktown is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
  • Center Star
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Center Star is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Star
  • Centerview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Centerview is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
    • Estimated population in 2014: 244 people
  • Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Crossroads is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Economy ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Economy is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Economy
  • Grandview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Grandview is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Havana
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Havana is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
  • Martins Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Martins Mills is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Mills
  • New Harmony
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • New Harmony is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Harmony
  • Oak Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Oak Grove is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Piney Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Piney Grove is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
  • Porter Ford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Porter Ford is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Ford
  • Swift
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Swift is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
    • Estimated population in 2014: 5,874 people

How Far From Smiths Fork 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 Smiths Fork 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<1> community of Smiths Fork once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Smiths Fork and extending to:

  • Savannah, which is the Seat of Hardin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Smiths Fork to Savannah, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 95 miles [152.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 657 miles [1,057.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,520 miles [10,492.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,239 miles [11,650 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,114 miles [8,230.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Smiths Fork, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Smiths Fork) 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 Smiths Fork 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 Smiths Fork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.2570, Longitude: -88.0723       In this case, the coordinates for Smiths Fork have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.555 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.542 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.448 degrees.