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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Martha, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Martha 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 Martha:
    • 35.610971, -80.018656
    • 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 Martha
  • 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
    • Since Martha is near Davidson County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Davidson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Martha

Communities Also Named Martha ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Martha.

Within North Carolina, the name Martha is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Geneva County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Martha [Geneva County].
    • Arkansas
      • Howard 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 Arkansas community of Martha [Howard County].
    • Illinois
      • Piatt County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Martha [Piatt County].
    • Kentucky
      • Lawrence County
      • This Martha is located in Lawrence County and lies 230 miles [370.1 km]<3> to the northwest of the Martha that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Martha.
    • Michigan
      • Isabella County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Martha [Isabella County].
      • Montcalm County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Martha [Montcalm County].
    • New Jersey
      • Burlington County
      • This Martha is located in Burlington County and lies 411 miles [661.4 km]<3> to the northeast of the Martha that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Burlington County community of Martha.
    • Oklahoma
      • Jackson County
      • This Martha is located in Jackson County and lies 1,093 miles [1,759 km]<3> to the west of the Martha that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Martha.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Centre County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Martha [Centre County].
    • Tennessee
      • Wilson County
      • This Martha is located in Wilson County and lies 360 miles [579.4 km]<3> to the west of the Martha that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Martha.
    • Texas
      • Liberty County
      • This Martha is located in Liberty County and lies 943 miles [1,517.6 km]<3> to the west southwest of the Martha that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Liberty County community of Martha.
    • West Virginia
      • Cabell County
      • This Martha is located in Cabell County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Martha that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cabell County community of Martha.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Martha ...

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.

  • Blaine
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Blaine is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
  • Cedar Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Complex
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Complex is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Complex
  • Eldorado
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Eldorado is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
  • Farmer
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Farmer is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
  • Handy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Handy is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handy
  • Healing Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Healing Springs is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healing Springs
  • Mechanic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mechanic is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanic
  • Silver Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Valley is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Valley
  • Wind Hill ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wind Hill is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wind Hill

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

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

  • Asheboro, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Martha to Asheboro, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 78 miles [125.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 279 miles [449 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,167 miles [9,924.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,866 miles [11,049.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,745 miles [7,636.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Martha 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>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 Martha, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Martha) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Martha 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 Martha. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6110, Longitude: -80.0187       In this case, the coordinates for Martha have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.745 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.062 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.065 degrees.