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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gatewood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gatewood 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 Gatewood:
    • 35.028204, -80.722847
    • 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 Gatewood
  • 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Since Gatewood is near Mecklenburg County and also Lancaster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster 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 Gatewood

Communities Also Named Gatewood ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Gatewood.

There is one other community in North Carolina that is also named Gatewood.

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

  • Communities Located In North Carolina ...
    • Caswell County
      • This Gatewood is located in Caswell County and lies 127 miles [204.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caswell County community of Gatewood.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Cochise 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 Arizona community of Gatewood [Cochise County].
    • Georgia
      • Clayton County
      • This Gatewood is located in Clayton County and lies 234 miles [376.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of Gatewood.
      • Sumter County
      • This Gatewood is located in Sumter County and lies 287 miles [461.9 km] to the southwest of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Gatewood.
    • Indiana
      • Delaware 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 Indiana community of Gatewood [Delaware County].
      • Hamilton County
      • This Gatewood is located in Hamilton County and lies 447 miles [719.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Gatewood.
    • Kentucky
      • Daviess County
      • This Gatewood is located in Daviess County and lies 392 miles [630.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Daviess County community of Gatewood.
    • Mississippi
      • Yalobusha County
      • This Gatewood is located in Yalobusha County and lies 519 miles [835.2 km]<1> to the west of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yalobusha County community of Gatewood.
    • Missouri
      • Ripley County
      • This Gatewood is located in Ripley County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ripley County community of Gatewood.
    • South Carolina
      • Aiken County
      • This Gatewood is located in Aiken County and lies 117 miles [188.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aiken County community of Gatewood.
      • Spartanburg County
      • This Gatewood is located in Spartanburg County and lies 71 miles [114.3 km] to the west of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Gatewood.
    • Tennessee
      • Gibson 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 Tennessee community of Gatewood [Gibson County].
    • Texas
      • Harris 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 Texas community of Gatewood [Harris County].
    • Virginia
      • Spotsylvania County
      • This Gatewood is located in Spotsylvania County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spotsylvania County community of Gatewood.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Gatewood is located in Fayette County and lies 206 miles [331.5 km]<1> to the north of the Gatewood that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Gatewood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gatewood ...

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.

  • Bakers
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Bakers is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakers
  • Fox Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Fox Run is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Run
  • Indian Trail
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Marvin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Marvin is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,920 people
  • Mineral Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Providence ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Providence is located in Mecklenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Providence Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Providence Woods is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Woods
  • Rain Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rain Forest is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rain Forest
  • Settlers Landing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Settlers Landing is located in Mecklenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Landing
  • Union
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Union is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
  • Wolfville ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Wolfville is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfville
  • Wood Hollow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Wood Hollow is located in Mecklenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Hollow

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

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

  • Monroe, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Gatewood to Monroe, 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 128 miles [206 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 335 miles [539.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,224 miles [10,016.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,921 miles [11,138.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,801 miles [7,726.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Gatewood) 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 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 Gatewood 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Gatewood 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 Gatewood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0282, Longitude: -80.7228       In this case, the coordinates for Gatewood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.152 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.444 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.516 degrees.