RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Georgia >> Newton County >> Salem Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Salem Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Salem Ridge 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 Salem Ridge:
    • 33.568446, -83.977688
    • 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 Salem Ridge
  • 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 Newton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Newton County
    • Since Salem Ridge is near Rockdale County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockdale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Salem Ridge

Curious and Interesting Names Near Salem Ridge ...

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.

  • Abide Awhile
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Abide Awhile is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abide Awhile
  • Beaver Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Beaver Creek is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
  • Brandy Shoals
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Brandy Shoals is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy Shoals
  • Fieldstone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fieldstone is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldstone
  • Forest Lakes
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Forest Lakes is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lakes
  • Forest Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Forest Mill is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Mill
  • Fountain Hill ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fountain Hill is located in Rockdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Hill
  • Fox Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Fox Meadows is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Meadows
  • Hidden Shoals
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Hidden Shoals is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Shoals
  • Knights Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Knights Landing is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Landing
  • Magnet
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Magnet is located in Rockdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnet
  • Plum Orchard
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Plum Orchard is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Orchard
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • River North
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • River North is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River North
    • Rogers Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Rogers Heights is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers Heights
    • Shoal Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Shoal Creek is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
    • Slades Mill
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Slades Mill is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slades Mill
    • Stone Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Stone Creek is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Creek

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

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

  • Covington, which is the Seat of Newton County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Salem Ridge to Atlanta, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 533 miles [857.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,430 miles [10,348.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,130 miles [11,474.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,009 miles [8,061.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Salem Ridge) 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 Salem Ridge 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 Salem Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5684, Longitude: -83.9777       In this case, the coordinates for Salem Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.006 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.367 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.171 degrees.