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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Whitaker, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whitaker 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 Whitaker:
    • 35.451948, -86.626212
    • 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 Whitaker
  • 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 Bedford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford County
    • Since Whitaker is near Marshall County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Whitaker

Communities Also Named Whitaker ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Whitaker.

Within Tennessee, the name Whitaker is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Geneva County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Whitaker [Geneva County].
    • Arkansas
      • Poinsett County
      • This Whitaker is located in Poinsett County and lies 225 miles [362.1 km]<2> to the west of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Poinsett County community of Whitaker.
    • Illinois
      • Kankakee County
      • This Whitaker is located in Kankakee County and lies 404 miles [650.2 km]<2> to the north of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kankakee County community of Whitaker.
    • Indiana
      • Morgan County
      • This Whitaker is located in Morgan County and lies 271 miles [436.1 km]<2> to the north of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Whitaker.
    • Kansas
      • Miami County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Whitaker [Miami County].
    • Kentucky
      • Floyd County
      • This Whitaker is located in Floyd County and lies 261 miles [420 km]<2> to the northeast of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Whitaker.
      • Letcher County
      • This Whitaker is located in Letcher County and lies 247 miles [397.5 km] to the east northeast of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Letcher County community of Whitaker.
    • Maryland
      • Cecil County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maryland community of Whitaker [Cecil County].
    • Mississippi
      • Wilkinson County
      • This Whitaker is located in Wilkinson County and lies 400 miles [643.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilkinson County community of Whitaker.
    • Oregon
      • Linn County
      • This Whitaker is located in Linn County and lies 1,998 miles [3,215.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Linn County community of Whitaker.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Whitaker is located in Allegheny County and lies 501 miles [806.3 km]<2> to the northeast of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Whitaker.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Whitaker is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,413 miles [2,274 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Whitaker.
    • Virginia
      • Stafford County
      • This Whitaker is located in Stafford County and lies 547 miles [880.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Whitaker that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stafford County community of Whitaker.
    • West Virginia
      • Kanawha County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Whitaker [Kanawha County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Whitaker ...

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.

  • Branchville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Branchville is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
  • Clay Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Clay Hill is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Hill
  • Halls Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Halls Mill is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Mill
  • Hickory Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hickory Heights is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Heights
  • Holly Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Holly Grove is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Grove
  • Laws Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Laws Hill is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laws Hill
  • Luna
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Luna is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
  • Needmore
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Needmore is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
  • Pleasant Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Rich Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Rich Creek is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Creek
  • Temple Ford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Temple Ford is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Ford
  • Tucker Ford
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Tucker Ford is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Ford
  • Wheel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Wheel is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheel

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

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

  • Shelbyville, which is the Seat of Bedford County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Whitaker to Shelbyville, with an average speed<4> 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 49 miles [78.9 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 578 miles [930.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,452 miles [10,383.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,168 miles [11,535.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,043 miles [8,115.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Whitaker, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Whitaker) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Whitaker 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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Whitaker 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 Whitaker. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4519, Longitude: -86.6262    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.671 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.55 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.792 degrees.