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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Downsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Downsville 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 Downsville:
    • 35.881242, -81.361200
    • 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 Downsville
  • 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 Caldwell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
    • Since Downsville is near Alexander County and also Catawba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexander County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Catawba 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 Downsville

Communities Also Named Downsville ...

We found five communities that are also named Downsville.

Within North Carolina, the name Downsville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Union Parish
      • This Downsville is located in Union Parish and lies 669 miles [1,076.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Downsville that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union Parish community of Downsville.
    • Maryland
      • Washington County
      • This Downsville is located in Washington County and lies 319 miles [513.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Downsville that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Downsville.
    • New York
      • Delaware County
      • This Downsville is located in Delaware County and lies 547 miles [880.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Downsville that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Downsville.
    • Texas
      • McLennan County
      • This Downsville is located in McLennan County and lies 951 miles [1,530.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Downsville that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLennan County community of Downsville.
    • Wisconsin
      • Dunn County
      • This Downsville is located in Dunn County and lies 827 miles [1,330.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Downsville that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dunn County community of Downsville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Downsville ...

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 Rock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Rock is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rock
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
    • Cedar Rock has also been known as:
    • Cedar Rock village
  • Cedar Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Valley is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
  • Ellendale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ellendale is located in Alexander County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
  • Grace Chapel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Grace Chapel is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Chapel
  • Granite Falls
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Kings Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Kings Creek is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek
  • Laurel Hollow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Laurel Hollow is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hollow
  • Little River
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Little River is located in Alexander County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
  • Maple Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Maple Valley is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Valley
  • Sawmills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sawmills is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,156 people

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Downsville once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Downsville and extending to:

  • Lenoir, which is the Seat of Caldwell County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Downsville to Lenoir, with an average speed<4> 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 152 miles [244.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 315 miles [506.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,213 miles [9,998.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,916 miles [11,130.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,794 miles [7,715.2 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Downsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Downsville, 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 Downsville 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 Downsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8812, Longitude: -81.3612       In this case, the coordinates for Downsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.524 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.994 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.515 degrees.