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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laurel Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laurel Springs 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 Laurel Springs:
    • 35.940976, -79.115013
    • 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 Laurel Springs
  • 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Since Laurel Springs is near Durham County and also Chatham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Durham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chatham 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 Laurel Springs

Communities Also Named Laurel Springs ...

We found four communities that are also named Laurel Springs.

There is one other community in North Carolina that is also named Laurel Springs.

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

  • Communities Located In North Carolina ...
    • Alleghany County
      • This Laurel Springs is located in Alleghany County and lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Laurel Springs that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alleghany County community of Laurel Springs.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Jersey
      • Camden 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 New Jersey community of Laurel Springs [Camden County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Berks County
      • This Laurel Springs is located in Berks County and lies 348 miles [560.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Laurel Springs that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berks County community of Laurel Springs.
    • Tennessee
      • Bradley County
      • This Laurel Springs is located in Bradley County and lies 328 miles [527.9 km]<1> to the west of the Laurel Springs that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bradley County community of Laurel Springs.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laurel Springs ...

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.

  • Cedar Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Chapel Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Coventry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Coventry is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Davie Circle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Davie Circle is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davie Circle
  • Fox Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fox Meadows is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Meadows
  • Hidden Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hidden Hills is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Hills
  • High Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • High Park is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Park
  • Ironwoods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ironwoods is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironwoods
  • Lake Ellen
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lake Ellen is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ellen
  • Manor Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Manor Hill is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Hill
  • Pine Knob
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Pine Knob is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Knob
  • Quail Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Quail Run is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Rangewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Rangewood is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangewood
    • Robins Wood
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Robins Wood is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robins Wood
    • Spring Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Valley is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Stoney Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Stoney Brook is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Brook
    • Walnut Cove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Walnut Cove is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Cove
    • White Cross
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • White Cross is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Cross
    • Wildwood Springs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wildwood Springs is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Springs

How Far From Laurel Springs 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 Laurel Springs to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Hillsborough, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Laurel Springs to Hillsborough, with an average speed<4> 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 28 miles [45.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 233 miles [375 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,114 miles [9,839.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,811 miles [10,961.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,691 miles [7,549.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Laurel Springs) 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 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 Laurel Springs 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Laurel Springs 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 Laurel Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9410, Longitude: -79.1150       In this case, the coordinates for Laurel Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.22 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.511 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.606 degrees.