RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for California







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gum, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gum 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 Gum:
    • 34.919978, -120.521556
    • 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.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Gum
  • 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 Santa Barbara County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • eBird sighting report for Santa Barbara County
    • Since Gum is near San Luis Obispo County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • eBird sighting report for San Luis Obispo 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:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Gum ...

We found four communities that share the name Gum.

Within California, the name Gum is unique.

Beyond California, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Rapides Parish
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Gum [Rapides Parish].
    • Tennessee
      • Rutherford County
      • This Gum is located in Rutherford County and lies 1,917 miles [3,085.1 km]<2> to the east of the Gum that is located in Santa Barbara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Gum.
    • Texas
      • Wise County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Gum [Wise County].
    • Virginia
      • Southampton County
      • This Gum is located in Southampton County and lies 2,415 miles [3,886.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Gum that is located in Santa Barbara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Southampton County community of Gum.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gum ...

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.

  • Bragur
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bragur have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragur
    • Bragur is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Fairoaks
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairoaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairoaks
    • Fairoaks is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Grover Beach
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Guadalupe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Halcyon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halcyon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halcyon
    • Halcyon is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Jesus Maria
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jesus Maria have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jesus Maria
    • Jesus Maria is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Oaks
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
    • Oaks is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Rosemary
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosemary have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemary
    • Rosemary is located in Santa Barbara County

How Far From Gum to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Gum to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Santa Barbara, which is the Seat of Santa Barbara County, lies 57 miles [91.7 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Gum to Santa Barbara, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 258 miles [415.2 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,393 miles [3,851.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 136 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,562 miles [12,169.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,330 miles [13,405.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,347 miles [10,214.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gum. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Santa Barbara County: www.countyofsb.org/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Gum 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.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Gum) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gum. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9200, Longitude: -120.5216       In this case, the coordinates for Gum have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Gum to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.264 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.66 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.984 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024