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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McConnell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McConnell 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 McConnell:
    • 35.457941, -77.019671
    • 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 McConnell
  • 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 Beaufort County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Beaufort County
    • Since McConnell is near Pitt County and also Craven County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pitt County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Craven 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 McConnell

Communities Also Named McConnell ...

We found nine communities that are also named McConnell.

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

Beyond North Carolina, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In North Carolina ...
    • Moore County
      • This McConnell is located in Moore County and lies 140 miles [225.3 km]<1> to the west of the McConnell that is located in Beaufort County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Moore County community of McConnell.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Walker 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 Georgia community of McConnell [Walker County].
    • Illinois
      • Stephenson County
      • This McConnell is located in Stephenson County and lies 834 miles [1,342.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the McConnell that is located in Beaufort County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephenson County community of McConnell.
    • Kentucky
      • Letcher 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 McConnell [Letcher County].
    • Manitoba
      • This McConnell lies 1,556 miles [2,504.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the McConnell that is located in Beaufort County.
    • Tennessee
      • Obion County
      • This McConnell is located in Obion County and lies 664 miles [1,068.6 km]<1> to the west of the McConnell that is located in Beaufort County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Obion County community of McConnell.
    • Virginia
      • Scott County
      • This McConnell is located in Scott County and lies 317 miles [510.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the McConnell that is located in Beaufort County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of McConnell.
      • Washington County
      • This McConnell is located in Washington County and lies 288 miles [463.5 km] to the west northwest of the McConnell that is located in Beaufort County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of McConnell.
    • West Virginia
      • Logan County
      • This McConnell is located in Logan County and lies 319 miles [513.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the McConnell that is located in Beaufort County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of McConnell.

Curious and Interesting Names Near McConnell ...

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.

  • Cotton Patch Landing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cotton Patch Landing is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Patch Landing
  • Douglas Crossroads
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Douglas Crossroads is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas Crossroads
  • Hall Swamp
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hall Swamp is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall Swamp
  • Hootentown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hootentown is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hootentown
  • Mimosa Shores
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Mimosa Shores is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mimosa Shores
  • Pineygrove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pineygrove is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineygrove
  • Porter Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Porter Junction is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Junction
  • River Road
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • River Road is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
  • Rover
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rover is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rover
  • Shady Banks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Shady Banks is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Banks
  • Smallwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Smallwood is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smallwood

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

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

  • Washington, which is the Seat of Beaufort County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from McConnell 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 237 miles [381.4 km] to the north (N). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,043 miles [9,725.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,732 miles [10,834.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,616 miles [7,428.7 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McConnell) 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 McConnell 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 McConnell 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 McConnell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4579, Longitude: -77.0197       In this case, the coordinates for McConnell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.047 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.096 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.965 degrees.