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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blackrock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blackrock 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 Blackrock:
    • 36.053493, -76.740225
    • 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 Blackrock
  • 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 Bertie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bertie County
    • Since Blackrock is near Chowan County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chowan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Blackrock

Communities Also Named Blackrock ...

We found four communities that are also named Blackrock.

Within North Carolina, the name Blackrock is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Inyo County
      • This Blackrock is located in Inyo County and lies 2,285 miles [3,677.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blackrock that is located in Bertie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Inyo County community of Blackrock.
    • Idaho
      • Bannock County
      • This Blackrock is located in Bannock County and lies 1,938 miles [3,118.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blackrock that is located in Bertie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bannock County community of Blackrock.
    • Pennsylvania
      • York County
      • This Blackrock is located in York County and lies 253 miles [407.2 km]<1> to the north of the Blackrock that is located in Bertie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Blackrock.
    • Washington
      • Yakima County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Blackrock [Yakima County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blackrock ...

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.

  • Barber
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Barber is located in Chowan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber
  • Elm Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Elm Grove is located in Bertie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Grove
  • Goose Pond
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Goose Pond is located in Bertie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Pond
  • Gregory Crossroads
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Gregory Crossroads is located in Bertie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory Crossroads
  • Marys Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Marys Beach is located in Bertie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marys Beach
  • Merry Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Merry Hill is located in Bertie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merry Hill
  • Perrytown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Perrytown is located in Bertie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrytown
  • Rockyhock
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Rockyhock is located in Chowan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockyhock
  • Todds Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Todds Crossroads is located in Bertie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todds Crossroads

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

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

  • Windsor, which is the Seat of Bertie County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Blackrock to Windsor, with an average speed<3> 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 107 miles [172.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 197 miles [317 km] to the north (N). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,005 miles [9,664.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,696 miles [10,776.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,579 miles [7,369.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Blackrock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Blackrock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Blackrock 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 Blackrock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0535, Longitude: -76.7402       In this case, the coordinates for Blackrock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.868 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.981 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.65 degrees.