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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dobson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dobson 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 Dobson:
    • 36.392017, -80.720348
    • 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 Dobson
  • 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 Dobson is near Wilkes County and also Yadkin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilkes County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yadkin 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 Dobson

Communities Also Named Dobson ...

We found five communities that are also named Dobson.

Within North Carolina, the name Dobson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Pima County
      • This Dobson is located in Pima County and lies 1,754 miles [2,822.8 km]<1> to the west of the Dobson that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pima County community of Dobson.
    • Kansas
      • Johnson 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 Kansas community of Dobson [Johnson County].
    • Kentucky
      • Johnson County
      • This Dobson is located in Johnson County and lies 151 miles [243 km]<1> to the northwest of the Dobson that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Dobson.
    • Mississippi
      • Rankin 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 Mississippi community of Dobson [Rankin County].
    • 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 Dobson [Spartanburg County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dobson ...

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.

  • Bottom
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bottom is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom
  • Level Cross
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Level Cross is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Cross
  • Little Richmond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Little Richmond is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Richmond
  • Mountain Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Mountain Park is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
  • Mulberry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mulberry is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
  • Pine Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pine Ridge is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
  • Red Brush
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Red Brush is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Brush
  • Stony Knoll
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Stony Knoll is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Knoll
  • Turkey Ford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Turkey Ford is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Ford
  • Union Cross
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Union Cross is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Cross
  • Zephyr
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Zephyr is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zephyr

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

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

  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 123 miles [197.9 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Dobson to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>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 265 miles [426.5 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,163 miles [9,918.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,866 miles [11,049.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,744 miles [7,634.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dobson) 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 Dobson 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>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 Dobson, 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 Dobson 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 Dobson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3920, Longitude: -80.7203       In this case, the coordinates for Dobson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.145 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.635 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.101 degrees.