Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Graphite, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Graphite and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Graphite
- 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 Graphite:
- 35.660674, -82.251785
- 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 Graphite
- 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDowell County
- Since Graphite is near Buncombe County and also Yancey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Buncombe County
- eBird sighting report for Yancey 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 Graphite ...
We found three communities that share the name Graphite.
Within North Carolina, the name Graphite is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- New York
- Ontario
- This Graphite lies 697 miles [1,121.7 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Graphite that is located in McDowell County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Graphite ...
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.
- Beech
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Blackberry Inn
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackberry Inn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry Inn
- Blackberry Inn is located in Buncombe County
- Cattail Creek Community
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cattail Creek Community have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattail Creek Community
- Cattail Creek Community is located in Yancey County
- Flat Top
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Garden Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Creek
- Garden Creek is located in McDowell County
- Grovestone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grovestone have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grovestone
- Grovestone is located in Buncombe County
- Jeter ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Pleasant Gardens
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gardens
- Pleasant Gardens is located in McDowell County
- Providence
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in McDowell County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Rattlesnake Lodge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rattlesnake Lodge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rattlesnake Lodge
- Rattlesnake Lodge is located in Buncombe County
- Riceville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Sugar Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill
- Sugar Hill is located in McDowell County
- Summerhaven
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerhaven have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerhaven
- Summerhaven is located in Buncombe County
- Toms Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toms Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toms Creek
- Toms Creek is located in McDowell County
- Walkertown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walkertown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkertown
- Walkertown is located in Buncombe County
- Rattlesnake Lodge
How Far From Graphite 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 Graphite to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Graphite and extending to:
- Marion, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Graphite to Marion, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 202 miles [325.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 363 miles [584.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,261 miles [10,076.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,965 miles [11,209.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,843 miles [7,794.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Graphite. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Graphite 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Graphite) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Graphite. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6607, Longitude: -82.2518 In this case, the coordinates for Graphite have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | 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 Graphite to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.046 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.561 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.937 degrees. |