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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Black Water, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Black Water 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 Black Water:
- 36.396976, -80.624081
- 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 Black Water
- 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 Surry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Surry County
- Since Black Water is near Yadkin County and also Stokes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Yadkin County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Stokes 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 Black Water
Communities Also Named Black Water ...
We found one communities that are also named Black Water.
Within North Carolina, the name Black Water is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, there is another community also named Black Water in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Tennessee
- Hancock County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Black Water [Hancock County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Black Water ...
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.
- Cedar Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Cedar Hill is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Combstown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Combstown is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combstown
- Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Flat Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
- Franklin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Franklin is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Holly Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Level Cross
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Level Cross is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Cross
- Long Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Long Hill is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hill
- Oak Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Grove is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Red Brush
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Stony Knoll
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Toast
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Toast is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast
- Turkey Ford
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Turkey Ford is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Ford
How Far From Black Water 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 Black Water to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Black Water and extending to:
- Dobson, which is the Seat of Surry County, lies just to the West.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Black Water to Raleigh, 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 261 miles [420 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,158 miles [9,910.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,862 miles [11,043.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,740 miles [7,628.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
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 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 Black Water 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Black Water) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Black Water 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 Black Water. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3970, Longitude: -80.6241 In this case, the coordinates for Black Water have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.089 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.571 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.061 degrees. |
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