RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Roane County >> Watsons Ferry >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Watsons Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watsons Ferry 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 Watsons Ferry:
    • 35.905077, -84.390761
    • 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 Watsons Ferry
  • 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Since Watsons Ferry is near Loudon County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anderson 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 Watsons Ferry

Curious and Interesting Names Near Watsons Ferry ...

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 northeast)
    • Bear is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear
  • Buttermilk Shores
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Buttermilk Shores is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttermilk Shores
  • Cedar Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Chestnut Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Hills is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
  • Gallagher Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Gallagher Ferry is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallagher Ferry
  • High Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • High Point is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Holiday Shores
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Holiday Shores is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Shores
  • Jonesville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jonesville is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
  • Lawnville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lawnville is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawnville
  • Oral
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Oral is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
  • Pawpaw Plains
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pawpaw Plains is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawpaw Plains
  • Poplar Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Poplar Springs is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Sugar Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Sugar Grove is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
    • Twin Oaks
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Twin Oaks is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
    • Union
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Union is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Wheat ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wheat is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheat
    • Williams Ferry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Williams Ferry is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ferry
    • Woodlawn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Woodlawn is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Watsons Ferry 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 Watsons Ferry to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Kingston, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 134 miles [215.7 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Watsons Ferry to Nashville, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 453 miles [729 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,339 miles [10,201.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,050 miles [11,345.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,926 miles [7,927.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Watsons Ferry) 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 Watsons Ferry 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 Watsons Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9051, Longitude: -84.3908       In this case, the coordinates for Watsons Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.326 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.065 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.744 degrees.