RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Grainger County >> Williams Springs >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Williams Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Williams Springs 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 Williams Springs:
    • 36.337307, -83.578794
    • 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 Williams Springs
  • 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 Grainger County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grainger County
    • Since Williams Springs is near Claiborne County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Claiborne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union 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 Williams Springs

Curious and Interesting Names Near Williams Springs ...

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.

  • Chittum
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Chittum is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chittum
  • Cupp Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cupp Mill is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cupp Mill
  • Elm Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Elm Springs is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Springs
  • Evans Ferry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Evans Ferry is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Ferry
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 293 people
  • Hammer Store
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hammer Store is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammer Store
  • Joppa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Joppa is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
  • Liberty Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Liberty Hill is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
  • Little Barren
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Little Barren is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Barren
  • Lone Mountain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lone Mountain is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Mountain
  • Lulaville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Lulaville is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lulaville
  • Powder Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Powder Springs is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powder Springs
  • Raven Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Raven Hill is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Hill
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sandlick
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandlick is located in Claiborne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandlick
    • Sunset
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Sunset is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
    • Sycamore Spring
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Sycamore Spring is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Spring
    • Williams Mill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Williams Mill is located in Claiborne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Mill

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

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

  • Rutledge, which is the Seat of Grainger County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Williams Springs to Nashville, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 398 miles [640.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,285 miles [10,114.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,996 miles [11,259 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,872 miles [7,840.7 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Williams Springs) 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 Williams Springs 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 Williams Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3373, Longitude: -83.5788       In this case, the coordinates for Williams Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.844 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.574 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.29 degrees.