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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Half Moon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Half Moon 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 Half Moon:
    • 34.825996, -77.459409
    • 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 Half Moon
  • 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 Onslow County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Onslow County
    • Since Half Moon is near Jones County and also Duplin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jones County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Duplin 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 Half Moon

Communities Also Named Half Moon ...

We found five communities that are also named Half Moon.

Within North Carolina, the name Half Moon is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Mississippi County
      • This Half Moon is located in Mississippi County and lies 710 miles [1,142.6 km]<1> to the west of the Half Moon that is located in Onslow County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of Half Moon.
      • Van Buren County
      • This Half Moon is located in Van Buren County and lies 845 miles [1,359.9 km] to the west of the Half Moon that is located in Onslow County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Van Buren County community of Half Moon.
    • Florida
      • Alachua County
      • This Half Moon is located in Alachua County and lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Half Moon that is located in Onslow County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alachua County community of Half Moon.
    • Louisiana
      • Saint Landry Parish
      • This Half Moon is located in Saint Landry Parish and lies 880 miles [1,416.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Half Moon that is located in Onslow County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Landry Parish community of Half Moon.
    • South Carolina
      • Florence County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Half Moon [Florence County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Half Moon ...

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.

  • Branchwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Branchwood is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchwood
  • Cedar Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cedar Creek is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
  • Forest Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Grove is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
  • Greystone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Greystone is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
  • Gum Branch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gum Branch is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Branch
  • Houston Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Houston Heights is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Heights
  • Indian Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Indian Springs is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Oak Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Grove is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Raintree
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Raintree is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
  • Shamrock Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Shamrock Village is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock Village
  • Tar Landing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Tar Landing is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tar Landing
  • Willow Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Willow Woods is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods

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

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

  • Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Onslow County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Half Moon to Raleigh, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 282 miles [453.8 km] to the north (N). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,089 miles [9,799.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,777 miles [10,906.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,662 miles [7,502.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Half Moon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Half Moon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 Half Moon 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 Half Moon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8260, Longitude: -77.4594       In this case, the coordinates for Half Moon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.31 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.304 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.343 degrees.