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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blackwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blackwood 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 Blackwood:
    • 35.992251, -79.072105
    • 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 Blackwood
  • 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Since Blackwood is near Durham County and also Alamance County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Durham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alamance 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 Blackwood

Communities Also Named Blackwood ...

We found nine communities that are also named Blackwood.

Within North Carolina, the name Blackwood is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Henry County
      • This Blackwood is located in Henry County and lies 483 miles [777.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Blackwood that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Blackwood.
    • Georgia
      • Gordon County
      • This Blackwood is located in Gordon County and lies 345 miles [555.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Blackwood that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gordon County community of Blackwood.
    • Montana
      • Gallatin County
      • This Blackwood is located in Gallatin County and lies 1,788 miles [2,877.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blackwood that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gallatin County community of Blackwood.
    • Nebraska
      • Hitchcock 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 Nebraska community of Blackwood [Hitchcock County].
    • New Jersey
      • Camden County
      • This Blackwood is located in Camden County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Blackwood that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Blackwood.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Schuylkill County
      • This Blackwood is located in Schuylkill County and lies 353 miles [568.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Blackwood that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schuylkill County community of Blackwood.
    • South Carolina
      • Spartanburg 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 South Carolina community of Blackwood [Spartanburg County].
    • Virginia
      • Montgomery County
      • This Blackwood is located in Montgomery County and lies 112 miles [180.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Blackwood that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Blackwood.
      • Wise County
      • This Blackwood is located in Wise County and lies 211 miles [339.6 km] to the west northwest of the Blackwood that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wise County community of Blackwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blackwood ...

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
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Colony Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Colony Park is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Park
  • Cornwallis Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cornwallis Hills is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwallis Hills
  • Coventry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Coventry is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Falls of New Hope
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Falls of New Hope is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls of New Hope
  • Fox Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Fox Meadows is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Meadows
  • Hidden Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hidden Hills is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Hills
  • Ironwoods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Ironwoods is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironwoods
  • Lake Ellen
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lake Ellen is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ellen
  • Manor Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Manor Hill is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Hill
  • Pine Knob
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Knob is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Knob
  • Piney Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Piney Grove is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Quail Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Quail Run is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Spring Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Spring Valley is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Stagecoach Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Stagecoach Run is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stagecoach Run
    • University
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • University is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University
    • Walnut Cove
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Walnut Cove is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Cove
    • Whispering Pines
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Whispering Pines is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Wildwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Wildwood is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood

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

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

  • Hillsborough, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Blackwood to Raleigh, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 229 miles [368.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,110 miles [9,833.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,807 miles [10,954.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,687 miles [7,543 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Blackwood) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Blackwood 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 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 Blackwood 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 Blackwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9923, Longitude: -79.0721       In this case, the coordinates for Blackwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.195 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.489 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.573 degrees.