Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swan
- 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 Swan:
- 34.755364, -84.189915
- 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 Swan
- 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 Fannin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fannin County
- Since Swan is near Gilmer County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gilmer County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Swan ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Swan.
There is one other community in Georgia which is also named Swan.
Beyond Georgia, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Georgia ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Swan ...
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.
- Big Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Diamond
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Due ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Greens Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greens Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Mill
- Greens Mill is located in Fannin County
- Hemp
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Jones Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Creek
- Jones Creek is located in Union County
- Marion
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Mashburn Mill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mashburn Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashburn Mill
- Mashburn Mill is located in Fannin County
- Quill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Rogers ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Sparks Mill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks Mill
- Sparks Mill is located in Fannin County
- Stanley Mill ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley Mill
- Stanley Mill is located in Gilmer County
- Sugar Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill
- Sugar Hill is located in Fannin County
- Three Forks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
- Three Forks is located in Fannin County
- Youngcane ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rogers ‑ Historic
How Far From Swan 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 Swan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Swan and extending to:
- Blue Ridge, which is the Seat of Fannin County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Swan to Blue Ridge, with an average speed<5> 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 70 miles [112.7 km] to the south (S). 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 487 miles [783.8 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,384 miles [10,274.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,090 miles [11,410.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,967 miles [7,993.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Swan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Georgia: https://georgia.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 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 Swan 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> | 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 Swan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Swan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7554, Longitude: -84.1899 In this case, the coordinates for Swan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Swan 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 312.174 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.727 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.959 degrees. |