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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Middle Fork, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Middle Fork 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 Middle Fork:
    • 35.117332, -82.823744
    • 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 Middle Fork
  • 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 Transylvania County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Transylvania County
    • Since Middle Fork is near Pickens County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pickens County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Middle Fork

Communities Also Named Middle Fork ...

We found seven communities that are also named Middle Fork.

Within North Carolina, the name Middle Fork is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Shasta 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 California community of Middle Fork [Shasta County].
    • Kentucky
      • Elliott County
      • This Middle Fork is located in Elliott County and lies 204 miles [328.3 km]<2> to the north of the Middle Fork that is located in Transylvania County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elliott County community of Middle Fork.
      • Morgan County
      • This Middle Fork is located in Morgan County and lies 196 miles [315.4 km] to the north of the Middle Fork that is located in Transylvania County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Middle Fork.
    • Tennessee
      • Henderson County
      • This Middle Fork is located in Henderson County and lies 320 miles [515 km]<2> to the west of the Middle Fork that is located in Transylvania County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Middle Fork.
    • West Virginia
      • Barbour County
      • This Middle Fork is located in Barbour County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Middle Fork that is located in Transylvania County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barbour County community of Middle Fork.
      • Kanawha County
      • This Middle Fork is located in Kanawha County and lies 238 miles [383 km] to the north northeast of the Middle Fork that is located in Transylvania County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kanawha County community of Middle Fork.
      • Randolph County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Middle Fork [Randolph County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Middle Fork ...

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.

  • Cane Brake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cane Brake is located in Transylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Brake
  • Cherryfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Cherryfield is located in Transylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherryfield
  • Fox Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Fox Ridge is located in Transylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Ridge
  • Line Runner Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Line Runner Ridge is located in Transylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Line Runner Ridge
  • Piney Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Piney Woods is located in Transylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Woods
  • Ridge Haven
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Ridge Haven is located in Transylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Haven
  • Rocky Bottom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Rocky Bottom is located in Pickens County (SC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Bottom
  • Round Mountain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Round Mountain is located in Transylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Mountain

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

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

  • Brevard, which is the Seat of Transylvania County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Middle Fork to Brevard, 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 239 miles [384.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 412 miles [663 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 24 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,310 miles [10,155 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,013 miles [11,286.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,891 miles [7,871.3 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 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 Middle Fork 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Middle Fork) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Middle Fork, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Middle Fork 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 Middle Fork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1173, Longitude: -82.8237       In this case, the coordinates for Middle Fork have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.375 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.861 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.317 degrees.