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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shoal Creek, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shoal Creek 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 Shoal Creek:
    • 33.566502, -83.995744
    • 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 Shoal Creek
  • 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 Shoal Creek 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 Shoal Creek

Communities Also Named Shoal Creek ...

We found seven communities that are also named Shoal Creek.

There are two communities within Georgia that are also named Shoal Creek.

Beyond Georgia, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Georgia ...
    • Clarke County
      • This Shoal Creek is located in Clarke County and lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Shoal Creek that is located in Newton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarke County community of Shoal Creek.
    • Hart County
      • This Shoal Creek is located in Hart County and lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Shoal Creek that is located in Newton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hart County community of Shoal Creek.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cleburne County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Shoal Creek [Cleburne County].
      • Shelby County
      • This Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County and lies 151 miles [243 km]<1> to the west of the Shoal Creek that is located in Newton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Shoal Creek.
    • Arkansas
      • Logan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Shoal Creek [Logan County].
    • Missouri
      • Barry County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Shoal Creek [Barry County].
    • North Carolina
      • Jackson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Shoal Creek [Jackson County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shoal Creek ...

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
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Abide Awhile is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abide Awhile
  • Beaver Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 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 north)
    • Brandy Shoals is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy Shoals
  • Fieldstone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fieldstone is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldstone
  • Forest Lakes
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Lakes is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lakes
  • Forest Mill
    (3 miles [4.8 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
    (3 miles [4.8 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 northwest)
    • Hidden Shoals is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Shoals
  • Knights Landing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Knights Landing is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Landing
  • Magnet
    (Less than 2 miles 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 northeast)
    • Plum Orchard is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Orchard
  • Slades Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Slades Mill is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slades Mill
  • Stone Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Stone Creek is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Creek

How Far From Shoal Creek 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 Shoal Creek to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Shoal Creek 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 Shoal Creek to Atlanta, with an average speed<3> 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 534 miles [859.4 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,431 miles [10,349.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,131 miles [11,476.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,010 miles [8,062.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Shoal Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Shoal Creek 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.
<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 Shoal Creek 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 Shoal Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5665, Longitude: -83.9957       In this case, the coordinates for Shoal Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.016 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.378 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.178 degrees.