Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Gold, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gold and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Gold
- 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 Gold:
- 35.793184, -81.762045
- 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 Gold
- 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 Burke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Burke County
- Since Gold is near Caldwell County and also McDowell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
- eBird sighting report for McDowell 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 Gold ...
We found five communities that share the name Gold.
Within North Carolina, the name Gold is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Nevada
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Gillespie County
- Although located in Gillespie County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gillespie County community of Gold.
- Utah
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gold ...
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.
- Hardaway ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Hartland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Hickory Grove ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Hickory Grove is located in Burke County
- Magnolia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Parkhill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkhill
- Parkhill is located in Burke County
- Pumpkin Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Pumpkin Center is located in Burke County
- Table Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Table Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Rock
- Table Rock is located in Burke County
- Tarkey Tail ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tarkey Tail have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarkey Tail
- Tarkey Tail is located in Burke County
- Worry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Gold 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 community such as Gold to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Gold and extending to:
- Morganton, which is the Seat of Burke County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 174 miles [280 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Gold to Raleigh, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 336 miles [540.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,234 miles [10,032.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,938 miles [11,165.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,815 miles [7,749 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gold. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Burke County: www.co.burke.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Gold, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Gold) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gold. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7932, Longitude: -81.7620 In this case, the coordinates for Gold have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Gold 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 Gold 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 310.759 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.251 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.701 degrees. |