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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Keswick, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Keswick and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Keswick:
    • 34.966817, -80.528955
    • 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 Keswick
  • 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Since Keswick is near Chesterfield County and also Mecklenburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg 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 Keswick

Communities Also Named Keswick ...

We found seven communities that are also named Keswick.

Within North Carolina, the name Keswick is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, five are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Shasta County
      • This Keswick is located in Shasta County and lies 2,299 miles [3,699.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Keswick that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Keswick.
    • Iowa
      • Keokuk County
      • This Keswick is located in Keokuk County and lies 776 miles [1,248.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Keswick that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Keokuk County community of Keswick.
    • Kentucky
      • Whitley County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Keswick [Whitley County].
    • Michigan
      • Leelanau County
      • This Keswick is located in Leelanau County and lies 739 miles [1,189.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Keswick that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leelanau County community of Keswick.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Keswick lies 1,045 miles [1,681.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Keswick that is located in Union County.
    • Ontario
      • This Keswick lies 643 miles [1,034.8 km]<1> to the north of the Keswick that is located in Union County.
    • Virginia
      • Albemarle County
      • This Keswick is located in Albemarle County and lies 242 miles [389.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Keswick that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albemarle County community of Keswick.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Keswick ...

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.

  • Bakers
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bakers is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakers
  • Bramblewood
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Bramblewood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramblewood
  • Camelot
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Camelot is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Council Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Council Oaks is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council Oaks
  • Fowler Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Fowler Crossroads is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Crossroads
  • Helms Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Helms Park is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helms Park
  • Hillcrest
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Hillcrest is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Kingswood
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Kingswood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
  • Lee Wood
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Lee Wood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Wood
  • Rock Rest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Rock Rest is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Rest
  • Rolling Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Timber Lake
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Timber Lake is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Lake

How Far From Keswick to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Keswick to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Monroe, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Keswick to Raleigh, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 332 miles [534.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,218 miles [10,006.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,915 miles [11,128.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,795 miles [7,716.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Keswick) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Keswick 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>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 Keswick 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 Keswick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9668, Longitude: -80.5290       In this case, the coordinates for Keswick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.041 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.308 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.459 degrees.