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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sumter, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sumter 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 Sumter:
    • 31.948732, -84.255618
    • 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 Sumter
  • 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 Sumter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter County
    • Since Sumter is near Lee County and also Terrell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Terrell 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 Sumter

Communities Also Named Sumter ...

We found four communities that are also named Sumter.

Within Georgia, the name Sumter is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Sumter is located in Jefferson County and lies 193 miles [310.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Sumter that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Sumter.
    • Minnesota
      • McLeod County
      • This Sumter is located in McLeod County and lies 1,034 miles [1,664.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Sumter that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLeod County community of Sumter.
    • Nebraska
      • Valley County
      • This Sumter is located in Valley County and lies 1,041 miles [1,675.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Sumter that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valley County community of Sumter.
    • South Carolina
      • Sumter County
      • This Sumter is located in Sumter County and lies 264 miles [424.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sumter that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Sumter.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sumter ...

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.

  • Archery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Archery is located in Webster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archery
  • Cottondale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Cottondale is located in Terrell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottondale
  • De Soto
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Eagle Pond
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Eagle Pond is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Pond
  • Edwards ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Edwards is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Leslie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Magnolia Springs ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
  • Olivers Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Olivers Mill is located in Terrell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Mill
    • Estimated population in 2019: 230 people
  • Plains
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Terrell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill

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

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

  • Americus, which is the Seat of Sumter County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Sumter to Atlanta, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 628 miles [1,010.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,517 miles [10,488.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,211 miles [11,605 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,093 miles [8,196.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Sumter) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Sumter 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 Sumter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9487, Longitude: -84.2556       In this case, the coordinates for Sumter have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.088 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.234 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.655 degrees.