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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Boswell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Boswell 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 Boswell:
    • 35.579000, -82.614294
    • 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 Boswell
  • 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 Buncombe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buncombe County
    • Since Boswell is near Henderson County and also Haywood County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henderson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Haywood 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 Boswell

Communities Also Named Boswell ...

We found nine communities that are also named Boswell.

Within North Carolina, the name Boswell is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Bullock 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 Alabama community of Boswell [Bullock County].
    • Arkansas
      • Clark County
      • This Boswell is located in Clark County and lies 613 miles [986.5 km]<2> to the west of the Boswell that is located in Buncombe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Boswell.
      • Izard County
      • This Boswell is located in Izard County and lies 529 miles [851.3 km] to the west of the Boswell that is located in Buncombe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Izard County community of Boswell.
    • British Columbia
      • This Boswell lies 1,960 miles [3,154.3 km]<2> to the northwest of the Boswell that is located in Buncombe County.
    • Indiana
      • Benton County
      • This Boswell is located in Benton County and lies 428 miles [688.8 km]<2> to the northwest of the Boswell that is located in Buncombe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Boswell.
    • Ohio
      • Mahoning County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Boswell [Mahoning County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Choctaw County
      • This Boswell is located in Choctaw County and lies 758 miles [1,219.9 km]<2> to the west of the Boswell that is located in Buncombe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Choctaw County community of Boswell.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Somerset County
      • This Boswell is located in Somerset County and lies 365 miles [587.4 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Boswell that is located in Buncombe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Boswell.
    • Virginia
      • Cumberland County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Boswell [Cumberland County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Boswell ...

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.

  • Camelot
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Camelot is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Craggy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Craggy is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craggy
  • Echo Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Echo Hills is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hills
  • Elk Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Elk Mountain is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Mountain
  • Emma
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Emma is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emma
  • Georgetown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Georgetown is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Grace
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Grace is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
  • Haw Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Haw Creek is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haw Creek
  • Hazel Green
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Hazel Green is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
  • Hominy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hominy is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hominy
  • Juno
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Juno is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
  • Mountainbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mountainbrook is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainbrook
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Murphy Junction
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Murphy Junction is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy Junction
    • Sand Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sand Hill is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill
    • Sulphur Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
    • Woodside Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Woodside Hills is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside Hills

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

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

  • Asheville, which is the Seat of Buncombe County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 223 miles [358.9 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Boswell to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 382 miles [614.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,280 miles [10,106.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,985 miles [11,241.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,862 miles [7,824.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Boswell 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Boswell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Boswell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Boswell 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 Boswell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5790, Longitude: -82.6143       In this case, the coordinates for Boswell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.259 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.794 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.106 degrees.