Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Baird, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Baird and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Baird
- 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 Baird:
- 35.788187, -81.405367
- 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 Baird
- 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 Caldwell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
- Since Baird is near Burke County and also Catawba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Burke County
- eBird sighting report for Catawba 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 Baird ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Baird.
Within North Carolina, the name Baird is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Ontario
- This Baird lies 963 miles [1,549.8 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Baird that is located in Caldwell County.
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Baird ...
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.
- Downsville ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
- Downsville is located in Caldwell County
- Drowning Creek ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drowning Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Creek
- Drowning Creek is located in Burke County
- Grace Chapel
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grace Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Chapel
- Grace Chapel is located in Caldwell County
- Granite Falls
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Falls
- Granite Falls is located in Caldwell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,657 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granite Falls <5>
- Henry River
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henry River have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry River
- Henry River is located in Burke County
- Hickory
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
- Hickory is located in Catawba County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,473 people
- Long View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Maple Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Valley
- Maple Valley is located in Caldwell County
- Mountain View
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Mountain View is located in Catawba County
- Penelope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Sawmills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Sweetwater
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetwater have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Sweetwater is located in Catawba County
How Far From Baird 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 Baird to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Baird once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Baird and extending to:
- Lenoir, which is the Seat of Caldwell County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Baird to Lenoir, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 154 miles [247.8 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 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 321 miles [516.6 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,219 miles [10,008.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,922 miles [11,139.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,800 miles [7,724.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Caldwell County: www.co.caldwell.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Baird, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Baird) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Baird. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7882, Longitude: -81.4054 In this case, the coordinates for Baird have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Baird 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Baird to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.549 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.01 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.56 degrees. |