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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Metcalf, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Metcalf 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 Metcalf:
    • 35.364018, -81.576759
    • 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 Metcalf
  • 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 Cleveland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cleveland County
    • Since Metcalf is near Rutherford County and also Gaston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rutherford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gaston 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 Metcalf

Communities Also Named Metcalf ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Metcalf.

Within North Carolina, the name Metcalf is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Greenlee County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Greenlee County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenlee County community of Metcalf.
    • California
      • Siskiyou County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Metcalf [Siskiyou County].
    • Colorado
      • Park 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 Colorado community of Metcalf [Park County].
    • Georgia
      • Thomas County
      • This Metcalf is located in Thomas County and lies 350 miles [563.3 km]<3> to the south southwest of the Metcalf that is located in Cleveland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thomas County community of Metcalf.
    • Illinois
      • Edgar County
      • This Metcalf is located in Edgar County and lies 458 miles [737.1 km]<3> to the northwest of the Metcalf that is located in Cleveland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Edgar County community of Metcalf.
    • Kansas
      • Sumner County
      • This Metcalf is located in Sumner County and lies 909 miles [1,462.9 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Metcalf that is located in Cleveland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumner County community of Metcalf.
    • Massachusetts
      • Middlesex County
      • This Metcalf is located in Middlesex County and lies 719 miles [1,157.1 km]<3> to the northeast of the Metcalf that is located in Cleveland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Metcalf.
    • Missouri
      • Pulaski 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 Missouri community of Metcalf [Pulaski County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Beaver 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 Oklahoma community of Metcalf [Beaver County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Metcalf is located in Westmoreland County and lies 377 miles [606.7 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Metcalf that is located in Cleveland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Metcalf.
    • Tennessee
      • Houston 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 Tennessee community of Metcalf [Houston County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Metcalf ...

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.

  • Double Shoals
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Double Shoals is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Shoals
  • Dover
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Dover is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
  • Elizabeth City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Elizabeth City is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City
  • Kingstown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Kingstown is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingstown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
  • Lawndale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • New House
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • New House is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New House
  • Polkville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Polkville is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polkville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
  • Rocky Brook
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rocky Brook is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Brook
  • Rollingwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rollingwood is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
  • Zion
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Zion is located in Cleveland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion

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

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

  • Shelby, which is the Seat of Cleveland County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 167 miles [268.8 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Metcalf to Raleigh, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 349 miles [561.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,245 miles [10,050.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,947 miles [11,180.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,825 miles [7,765.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Metcalf, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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 Metcalf 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>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- Metcalf) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Metcalf 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 Metcalf. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3640, Longitude: -81.5768       In this case, the coordinates for Metcalf have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.648 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.062 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.752 degrees.