RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Gaston County >> Alexis >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alexis, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alexis 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 Alexis:
    • 35.399886, -81.118113
    • 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 Alexis
  • 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 Gaston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gaston County
    • Since Alexis is near Lincoln County and also Mecklenburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg 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 Alexis

Communities Also Named Alexis ...

We found six communities that are also named Alexis.

Within North Carolina, the name Alexis is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cherokee County
      • This Alexis is located in Cherokee County and lies 263 miles [423.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Alexis that is located in Gaston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Alexis.
    • California
      • San Bernardino 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 California community of Alexis [San Bernardino County].
    • Georgia
      • Echols County
      • This Alexis is located in Echols County and lies 338 miles [544 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Alexis that is located in Gaston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Echols County community of Alexis.
    • Illinois
      • Mercer County
      • This Alexis is located in Mercer County and lies 643 miles [1,034.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Alexis that is located in Gaston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Alexis.
    • Ohio
      • Lucas 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 Ohio community of Alexis [Lucas County].
      • Monroe County
      • This Alexis is located in Monroe County and lies 292 miles [469.9 km]<1> to the north of the Alexis that is located in Gaston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Alexis.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alexis ...

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.

  • Boger City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Boger City is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boger City
  • Cottage Home ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cottage Home is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Home
  • Craig Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Craig Heights is located in Gaston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig Heights
  • Goodsonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Goodsonville is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodsonville
  • High Shoals
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • High Shoals is located in Gaston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
  • Iron Station
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Laboratory
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Laboratory is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laboratory
  • Long Shoals
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Long Shoals is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Shoals
  • Mineral Spring ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Mineral Spring is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Spring
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mount Holly
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Island
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Mountain Island is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Island
    • Polkadot
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Polkadot is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polkadot
    • Pumpkin Center
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Pumpkin Center is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
    • Stanley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Triangle ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Triangle is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle

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

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

  • Gastonia, which is the Seat of Gaston County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alexis to Gastonia, with an average speed<4> 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.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 141 miles [226.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 329 miles [529.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,224 miles [10,016.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,924 miles [11,143.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,803 miles [7,729.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alexis) 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 Alexis 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 Alexis 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 Alexis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3999, Longitude: -81.1181    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.381 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.761 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.561 degrees.