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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Combstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Combstown 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 Combstown:
    • 36.500690, -80.578952
    • 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 Combstown
  • 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 Combstown is near Patrick County and also Stokes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Patrick 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 Combstown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Combstown ...

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.

  • Flat Rock
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Flat Rock is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
  • Franklin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Franklin is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Holly Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Springs is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • Indian Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Indian Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Grove
  • Oak Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Oak Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Slate Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Slate Mountain is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Mountain
  • Sulphur Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Toast
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Toast is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Combstown and extending to:

  • Dobson, which is the Seat of Surry County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Combstown to Dobson, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 118 miles [189.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 254 miles [408.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,152 miles [9,900.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,856 miles [11,033.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,733 miles [7,617 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Combstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Combstown 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 Combstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5007, Longitude: -80.5790       In this case, the coordinates for Combstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.061 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.555 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.01 degrees.