RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Georgia >> Lumpkin County >> Gates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gates 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 Gates:
    • 34.645371, -83.892130
    • 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 Gates
  • 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 Lumpkin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lumpkin County
    • Since Gates is near White County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for White 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 Gates

Communities Also Named Gates ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named Gates.

There is one other community in Georgia that is also named Gates.

Beyond Georgia, we know of eighteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eighteen communities, eighteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Georgia ...
    • Brooks 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 Georgia community of Gates [Brooks County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Gates lies 2,214 miles [3,563.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
    • California
      • Santa Barbara 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 California community of Gates [Santa Barbara County].
      • Solano County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Gates [Solano County].
    • Colorado
      • Weld County
      • This Gates is located in Weld County and lies 1,208 miles [1,944.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weld County community of Gates.
    • Kentucky
      • Rowan County
      • This Gates is located in Rowan County and lies 249 miles [400.7 km]<2> to the north of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rowan County community of Gates.
    • Minnesota
      • Stearns 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 Minnesota community of Gates [Stearns County].
    • Missouri
      • Greene 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 Missouri community of Gates [Greene County].
    • Nebraska
      • Custer County
      • This Gates is located in Custer County and lies 979 miles [1,575.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Custer County community of Gates.
      • Sarpy 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 Nebraska community of Gates [Sarpy County].
    • New York
      • Monroe 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 New York community of Gates [Monroe County].
      • Saratoga County
      • This Gates is located in Saratoga County and lies 801 miles [1,289.1 km]<2> to the northeast of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saratoga County community of Gates.
    • North Carolina
      • Gates County
      • This Gates is located in Gates County and lies 419 miles [674.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gates County community of Gates.
    • Oregon
      • Linn County
      • This Gates is located in Linn County and lies 2,139 miles [3,442.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Linn County community of Gates.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fayette County
      • This Gates is located in Fayette County and lies 422 miles [679.1 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Gates.
    • South Carolina
      • Pickens 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 South Carolina community of Gates [Pickens County].
    • Tennessee
      • Lauderdale County
      • This Gates is located in Lauderdale County and lies 321 miles [516.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lauderdale County community of Gates.
    • Texas
      • Dallas 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 Texas community of Gates [Dallas County].
    • West Virginia
      • Monroe County
      • This Gates is located in Monroe County and lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Gates that is located in Lumpkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Gates.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gates ...

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.

  • Grace ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Grace is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
  • Pleasant Retreat ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Retreat is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Retreat
  • Porter Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Porter Springs is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Springs
  • Sarah
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Sarah is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarah
  • Stay ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Stay is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
  • Tube ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tube is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tube
  • Walnut ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Walnut is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
  • Wild ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Wild is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild
  • Willow ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Willow is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 15,138 people

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

  • Dahlonega, which is the Seat of Lumpkin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Gates to Dahlonega, 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.
  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 479 miles [770.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,376 miles [10,261.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,081 miles [11,395.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,959 miles [7,980.7 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 Gates, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Gates) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Gates 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 Gates 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 Gates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6454, Longitude: -83.8921       In this case, the coordinates for Gates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.994 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.505 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.868 degrees.