Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Durham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Durham and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Durham
- 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 Durham:
- 35.992991, -78.899058
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Durham
- 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 Durham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Durham County
- Since Durham is near Orange County and also Granville County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Orange County
- eBird sighting report for Granville 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Durham ...
We found 31 communities that share the name Durham.
Within North Carolina, the name Durham is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another 31 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 31 communities, 29 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Gibson County
- This Durham is located in Gibson County and lies 502 miles [807.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Durham that is located in Durham County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gibson County community of Durham.
- LaPorte County
- This Durham is located in LaPorte County and lies 575 miles [925.4 km] to the northwest of the Durham that is located in Durham County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the LaPorte County community of Durham.
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maine
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Hunterdon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Durham [Hunterdon County].
- Middlesex County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Durham [Middlesex County].
- New York
- Nova Scotia
- This Durham lies 1,068 miles [1,718.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Durham that is located in Durham County.
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Durham lies 574 miles [923.8 km]<1> to the north of the Durham that is located in Durham County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Borden County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Durham [Borden County].
- Gregg County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Durham [Gregg County].
- Hunt County
- This Durham is located in Hunt County and lies 985 miles [1,585.2 km]<1> to the west of the Durham that is located in Durham County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunt County community of Durham.
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Durham ...
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.
- Colony Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colony Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Park
- Colony Park is located in Durham County
- Few
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Five Oaks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Glen Forest
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
- Glen Forest is located in Durham County
- Greymoss
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Havenhill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Heritage Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heritage Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Heights
- Heritage Heights is located in Durham County
- Hickory Oaks
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Oaks
- Hickory Oaks is located in Durham County
- Joyland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Marywood
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Oak Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Rocky Knoll
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Knoll have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Knoll
- Rocky Knoll is located in Durham County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Spring Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Spring Valley is located in Durham County
- Suntree
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Weaver
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Whispering Pines
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
- Whispering Pines is located in Orange County
- Spring Valley
How Far From Durham 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 city such as Durham to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Durham and extending to:
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Durham to Raleigh, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 225 miles [362.1 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,102 miles [9,820.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,799 miles [10,941.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,679 miles [7,530.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Durham: www.ci.durham.nc.us/
The official website for Durham County: www.co.durham.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
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- Durham) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Durham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9930, Longitude: -78.8991 |
| <2> | 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 Durham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Durham 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. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Durham to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.095 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.375 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.505 degrees. |