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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wilkes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wilkes and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Wilkes:
    • 35.778097, -86.92899
    • 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 Wilkes
  • 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 Williamson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Williamson County
    • Since Wilkes is near Maury County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Maury County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Wilkes

Communities Also Named Wilkes ...

We found two communities that are also named Wilkes.

Within Tennessee, the name Wilkes is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Wilkes is located in Jefferson County and lies 160 miles [257.5 km]<1> to the south of the Wilkes that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Wilkes.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Wilkes is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,392 miles [2,240.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Wilkes that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Wilkes.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wilkes ...

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.

  • Boston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Boston is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
  • Flint Valley ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Flint Valley is located in Maury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Valley
  • Lees Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lees Corner is located in Maury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Corner
  • Little Texas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Little Texas is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Texas
  • Loco ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Loco is located in Maury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loco
  • Match
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Match is located in Maury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Match
  • Mayberry ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mayberry is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayberry
  • Rally Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rally Hill is located in Maury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rally Hill
  • Redwing Farms
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Redwing Farms is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwing Farms
  • Riverview Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Riverview Park is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview Park
  • Rolling Meadows
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Rolling Meadows is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Meadows
  • Springview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Springview is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springview
  • Sulphur Springs ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Maury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Traceview
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Traceview is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traceview

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

  • Franklin, which is the Seat of Williamson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wilkes to Franklin, 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 583 miles [938.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,449 miles [10,378.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,166 miles [11,532.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,042 miles [8,114.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wilkes) 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 Wilkes, 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 Wilkes 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 Wilkes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7781, Longitude: -86.9290    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.872 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.826 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.844 degrees.