RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Wayne County >> Southgate >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Southgate, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southgate 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 Southgate:
    • 42.203651, -83.206037
    • 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 Southgate
  • 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 Wayne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne County
    • Since Southgate is near Monroe County and also Oakland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oakland 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 Southgate

Communities Also Named Southgate ...

We found twenty communities that are also named Southgate.

Within Michigan, the name Southgate is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Henry County
      • This Southgate is located in Henry County and lies 759 miles [1,221.5 km]<1> to the south of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Southgate.
    • California
      • Santa Clara County
      • This Southgate is located in Santa Clara County and lies 2,073 miles [3,336.2 km]<1> to the west of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of Southgate.
    • Florida
      • Sarasota County
      • This Southgate is located in Sarasota County and lies 1,029 miles [1,656 km]<1> to the south of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sarasota County community of Southgate.
    • Georgia
      • Dougherty County
      • This Southgate is located in Dougherty County and lies 739 miles [1,189.3 km]<1> to the south of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dougherty County community of Southgate.
      • Hall County
      • This Southgate is located in Hall County and lies 551 miles [886.7 km] to the south of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hall County community of Southgate.
    • Illinois
      • Cook 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 Illinois community of Southgate [Cook County].
      • Ogle County
      • This Southgate is located in Ogle County and lies 301 miles [484.4 km]<1> to the west of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ogle County community of Southgate.
    • Indiana
      • LaPorte 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 Indiana community of Southgate [LaPorte County].
    • Kentucky
      • Campbell County
      • This Southgate is located in Campbell County and lies 226 miles [363.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Campbell County community of Southgate.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Southgate is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 405 miles [651.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Southgate.
      • Saint Mary's County
      • This Southgate is located in Saint Mary's County and lies 449 miles [722.6 km] to the southeast of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Mary's County community of Southgate.
    • North Carolina
      • Craven County
      • This Southgate is located in Craven County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Craven County community of Southgate.
      • Wake County
      • This Southgate is located in Wake County and lies 508 miles [817.5 km] to the south southeast of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wake County community of Southgate.
    • Ohio
      • Clark County
      • This Southgate is located in Clark County and lies 162 miles [260.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Southgate.
    • Ontario
      • This Southgate lies 113 miles [181.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
    • South Carolina
      • Lexington County
      • This Southgate is located in Lexington County and lies 580 miles [933.4 km]<1> to the south of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lexington County community of Southgate.
      • Sumter County
      • This Southgate is located in Sumter County and lies 597 miles [960.8 km] to the south southeast of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Southgate.
    • Virginia
      • Montgomery County
      • This Southgate is located in Montgomery County and lies 374 miles [601.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Southgate that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Southgate.
    • Washington
      • Pierce 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 Washington community of Southgate [Pierce County].
      • Thurston 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 Washington community of Southgate [Thurston County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Southgate ...

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.

  • Cherry Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cherry Island is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Island
  • Dearborn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Edgewater Beach
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Flat Rock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hand
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hand is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hand
  • Lincoln Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Melvindale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Riverview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Rockwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Sandwich
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandwich
  • Springwells
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Springwells is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwells
    • Former name for Springwells:
    • Fordson
  • Sunnyside
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunnyside is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Twin Sandwich
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Detroit, which is the Seat of Wayne County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Southgate to Detroit, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 77 miles [123.9 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 395 miles [635.7 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,001 miles [9,657.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,732 miles [10,834.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,611 miles [7,420.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Southgate) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Southgate 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Southgate 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 Southgate. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2037, Longitude: -83.2060       In this case, the coordinates for Southgate have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.533 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.077 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.298 degrees.