Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Higgins, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Higgins and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Higgins
- 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 Higgins:
- 35.959400, -82.381387
- 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 Higgins
- 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 Yancey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Yancey County
- Since Higgins is near Mitchell County and also Unicoi County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
- eBird sighting report for Unicoi 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 Higgins ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Higgins.
Within North Carolina, the name Higgins is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New York
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Jefferson County
- This Higgins is located in Jefferson County and lies 789 miles [1,269.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Higgins that is located in Yancey County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Higgins.
- Lipscomb County
- This Higgins is located in Lipscomb County and lies 983 miles [1,582 km] to the west of the Higgins that is located in Yancey County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lipscomb County community of Higgins.
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Higgins ...
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.
- Bee Log
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Cane
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Day Book
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Elk Shoal
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Hawk Branch
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawk Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk Branch
- Hawk Branch is located in Yancey County
- Huntdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Lewisburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Lincoln Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- Lincoln Park is located in Yancey County
- Paint Gap
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Possumtrot
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Possumtrot have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possumtrot
- Possumtrot is located in Yancey County
- Swiss
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Higgins 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 Higgins to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Higgins and extending to:
- Burnsville, which is the Seat of Yancey County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 209 miles [336.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Higgins to Raleigh, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 356 miles [572.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,252 miles [10,061.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,959 miles [11,199.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,836 miles [7,782.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Higgins. 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> | 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- Higgins) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Higgins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9594, Longitude: -82.3814 In this case, the coordinates for Higgins 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 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 Higgins 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> | 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 Higgins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Higgins 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 311.125 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.695 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.904 degrees. |