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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Vancouver, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vancouver 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 Vancouver:
    • 35.873689, -84.265198
    • 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 Vancouver
  • 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 Loudon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudon County
    • Since Vancouver is near Knox County and also Roane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane 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 Vancouver

Communities Also Named Vancouver ...

We found two communities that are also named Vancouver.

Within Tennessee, the name Vancouver is unique.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Vancouver lies 2,149 miles [3,458.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Vancouver that is located in Loudon County.
    • Washington
      • Clark County
      • This Vancouver is located in Clark County and lies 2,095 miles [3,371.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vancouver that is located in Loudon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Vancouver.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vancouver ...

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
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bear is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear
  • Buttermilk Shores
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Buttermilk Shores is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttermilk Shores
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Dixie Lee Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Dixie Lee Junction is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie Lee Junction
  • Ford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ford is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford
  • Fox Den
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fox Den is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Den
  • Hickory Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hickory Woods is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Woods
  • Kingsgate
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Kingsgate is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsgate
  • Oak Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Oral
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Oral is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
  • Pawpaw Plains
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Pawpaw Plains is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawpaw Plains
  • Pleasant View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant View is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Silver Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Silver Ridge is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Ridge
    • Station West
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Station West is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station West
    • Sweet Briar
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Sweet Briar is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar
    • Williams Ferry
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Williams Ferry is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ferry
    • Woodlawn
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Woodlawn is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

  • Loudon, which is the Seat of Loudon County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Vancouver to Loudon, 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 141 miles [226.9 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 448 miles [721 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,335 miles [10,195.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,046 miles [11,339.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,922 miles [7,921.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Vancouver) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Vancouver, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Vancouver 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 Vancouver. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8737, Longitude: -84.2652       In this case, the coordinates for Vancouver have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.249 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.973 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.701 degrees.