RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Knox County >> Volunteer Village >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Volunteer Village, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Volunteer Village 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 Volunteer Village:
    • 35.981389, -84.155000
    • 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 Volunteer Village
  • 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 Knox County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox County
    • Since Volunteer Village is near Anderson County and also Roane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anderson 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 Volunteer Village

Curious and Interesting Names Near Volunteer Village ...

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.

  • Ball Camp
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ball Camp is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Camp
  • Bud ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Bud is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud
  • Bull Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bull Run is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Run
  • Camelot
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Camelot is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Golden Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Golden Meadows is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Meadows
  • Gulf Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gulf Park is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Park
  • Heather Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Heather Heights is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Heights
  • King Arthur Court
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • King Arthur Court is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Arthur Court
  • Kirkstall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kirkstall is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkstall
  • Lees Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lees Ferry is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Ferry
  • Meadowbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Meadowbrook is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
  • Plum Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Plum Creek is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Creek
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Robinson Crossroads
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Robinson Crossroads is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Crossroads
    • Spanish Trails
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Spanish Trails is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Trails
    • Trails End
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Trails End is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trails End
    • Treeville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Treeville is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treeville

How Far From Volunteer Village 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 Volunteer Village to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Volunteer Village and extending to:

  • Knoxville, which is the Seat of Knox County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Volunteer Village to Knoxville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 146 miles [235 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 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 438 miles [704.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 25 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,326 miles [10,180.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,037 miles [11,325 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,913 miles [7,906.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Volunteer Village) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Volunteer Village 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 Volunteer Village. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9814, Longitude: -84.1550       In this case, the coordinates for Volunteer Village have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.185 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.915 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.626 degrees.