RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Grainger County >> Thorn Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Thorn Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thorn Hill 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 Thorn Hill:
    • 36.358415, -83.417023
    • 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 Thorn Hill
  • 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 Grainger County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grainger County
    • Since Thorn Hill is near Claiborne County and also Hancock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Claiborne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock 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 Thorn Hill

Communities Also Named Thorn Hill ...

We found six communities that are also named Thorn Hill.

Within Tennessee, the name Thorn Hill is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Marion County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Thorn Hill [Marion County].
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Thorn Hill is located in Cook County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Thorn Hill that is located in Grainger County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Thorn Hill.
    • Kentucky
      • Franklin County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Thorn Hill [Franklin County].
    • New York
      • Onondaga County
      • This Thorn Hill is located in Onondaga County and lies 587 miles [944.7 km]<2> to the northeast of the Thorn Hill that is located in Grainger County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Thorn Hill.
    • Ohio
      • Mahoning County
      • This Thorn Hill is located in Mahoning County and lies 361 miles [581 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Thorn Hill that is located in Grainger County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mahoning County community of Thorn Hill.
    • Texas
      • Comal County
      • This Thorn Hill is located in Comal County and lies 963 miles [1,549.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Thorn Hill that is located in Grainger County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Comal County community of Thorn Hill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thorn Hill ...

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
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bald Point is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Point
  • Beans
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Beans is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans
    • Estimated population in 2014: 3,084 people
  • Boggs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Boggs is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boggs
  • Evans Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Evans Ferry is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Ferry
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 293 people
  • Hopper Bluff
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Hopper Bluff is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopper Bluff
  • Idol
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Idol is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idol
  • Marshalls Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Marshalls Ferry is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshalls Ferry
  • Mary Chapel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mary Chapel is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Chapel
  • Raven Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Riverview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverview is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
  • Rock Haven
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rock Haven is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Haven

How Far From Thorn Hill 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 Thorn Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Thorn Hill and extending to:

  • Rutledge, which is the Seat of Grainger County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 187 miles [300.9 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Thorn Hill to Nashville, with an average speed<3>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 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 390 miles [627.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,988 miles [11,246.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,864 miles [7,827.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Thorn Hill 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thorn Hill) 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 Thorn Hill 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 Thorn Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3584, Longitude: -83.4170    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.747 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.466 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.217 degrees.