Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sparkman, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sparkman and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sparkman
- 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 Sparkman:
- 35.806178, -85.513032
- 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 Sparkman
- 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 Van Buren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
- Since Sparkman is near White County and also Warren County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for White County
- eBird sighting report for Warren 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
Communities Also Named Sparkman ...
We found three communities that share the name Sparkman.
Within Tennessee, the name Sparkman is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- North Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sparkman ...
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.
- Bone Cave
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bone Cave
- Bone Cave is located in Van Buren County
- Campaign
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campaign
- Campaign is located in Warren County
- Cedar Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Cedar Grove is located in Van Buren County
- Denny Ferry
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denny Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denny Ferry
- Denny Ferry is located in Van Buren County
- Goodbars
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Greenwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Gum Spring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gum Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
- Gum Spring is located in White County
- Harmony
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Heads ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Hodge Ferry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hodge Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge Ferry
- Hodge Ferry is located in Van Buren County
- Joppa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Methodist ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Rock Island
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island
- Rock Island is located in Warren County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rock Island <4>
- Sweetgum
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Young ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hodge Ferry
How Far From Sparkman 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 Sparkman to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sparkman and extending to:
- Spencer, which is the Seat of Van Buren County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 74 miles [119.1 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Sparkman to Nashville, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 511 miles [822.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,390 miles [10,283.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,104 miles [11,432.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,979 miles [8,012.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sparkman. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Sparkman) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sparkman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8062, Longitude: -85.5130 In this case, the coordinates for Sparkman have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Sparkman 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Sparkman to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.004 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.831 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.238 degrees. |