Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Goulds, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Goulds and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Goulds
- 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 Goulds:
- 36.102908, -81.338703
- 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 Goulds
- 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 Wilkes County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wilkes County
- Since Goulds is near Caldwell County and also Watauga County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
- eBird sighting report for Watauga 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 Goulds ...
We found six communities that share the name Goulds.
Within North Carolina, the name Goulds is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Goulds ...
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.
- Boomer
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Brown ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Buck
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Denny ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Elkville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Harley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Kings Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek
- Kings Creek is located in Caldwell County
- Maple Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Springs
- Maple Springs is located in Wilkes County
- Mount Pleasant
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Wilkes County
- Parsonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsonville
- Parsonville is located in Wilkes County
- Ready Branch
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ready Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ready Branch
- Ready Branch is located in Wilkes County
- Stokes ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Thankful
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Goulds 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 Goulds 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<4> community of Goulds once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Goulds and extending to:
- Wilkesboro, which is the Seat of Wilkes County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Goulds to Wilkesboro, with an average speed<5> 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 304 miles [489.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,202 miles [9,981.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,906 miles [11,114.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,783 miles [7,697.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Wilkes County: www.wilkescounty.net/
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- Goulds) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Goulds. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1029, Longitude: -81.3387 In this case, the coordinates for Goulds have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Goulds 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> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Goulds, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Goulds 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 310.51 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.011 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.439 degrees. |