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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in New Castle, we use the following websites to find information relevant to New Castle 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 New Castle:
    • 36.107356, -80.905907
    • 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 New Castle
  • 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 Wilkes County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilkes County
    • Since New Castle is near Yadkin County and also Iredell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yadkin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iredell 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 New Castle

Communities Also Named New Castle ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named New Castle.

Within North Carolina, the name New Castle is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This New Castle is located in Jefferson County and lies 372 miles [598.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of New Castle.
    • Colorado
      • Garfield County
      • This New Castle is located in Garfield County and lies 1,465 miles [2,357.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Garfield County community of New Castle.
    • Delaware
      • New Castle County
      • This New Castle is located in New Castle County and lies 380 miles [611.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of New Castle.
    • Illinois
      • Saline 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 Illinois community of New Castle [Saline County].
      • Tazewell 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 Illinois community of New Castle [Tazewell County].
    • Indiana
      • Henry County
      • This New Castle is located in Henry County and lies 358 miles [576.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of New Castle.
    • Kentucky
      • Henry County
      • This New Castle is located in Henry County and lies 283 miles [455.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of New Castle.
    • Missouri
      • Gentry 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 New Castle [Gentry County].
      • Johnson County
      • This New Castle is located in Johnson County and lies 718 miles [1,155.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of New Castle.
    • New Hampshire
      • Rockingham County
      • This New Castle is located in Rockingham County and lies 723 miles [1,163.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of New Castle.
    • New York
      • Westchester 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 York community of New Castle [Westchester County].
    • Ohio
      • Belmont County
      • This New Castle is located in Belmont County and lies 261 miles [420 km]<1> to the north of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of New Castle.
      • Coshocton 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 Ohio community of New Castle [Coshocton County].
      • Lawrence County
      • This New Castle is located in Lawrence County and lies 197 miles [317 km] to the north northwest of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of New Castle.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clearfield County
      • This New Castle is located in Clearfield County and lies 357 miles [574.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clearfield County community of New Castle.
      • Lawrence County
      • This New Castle is located in Lawrence County and lies 339 miles [545.6 km] to the north of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of New Castle.
      • Schuylkill 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 Pennsylvania community of New Castle [Schuylkill County].
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This New Castle is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,701 miles [2,737.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of New Castle.
    • Virginia
      • Craig County
      • This New Castle is located in Craig County and lies 105 miles [169 km]<1> to the north northeast of the New Castle that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Craig County community of New Castle.

Curious and Interesting Names Near New Castle ...

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.

  • Cycle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cycle is located in Yadkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cycle
  • Jennings
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jennings is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
  • Lovelace ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lovelace is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelace
  • Martin ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Martin is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Pea Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pea Ridge is located in Yadkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pea Ridge
  • Swan Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Swan Creek is located in Yadkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Creek
  • Union Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Windy Gap
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Windy Gap is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy Gap
  • Zion ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Zion is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of New Castle once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in New Castle and extending to:

  • Wilkesboro, which is the Seat of Wilkes County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from New Castle to Wilkesboro, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 128 miles [206 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 286 miles [460.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,183 miles [9,950.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,886 miles [11,081.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,764 miles [7,666.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- New Castle) 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 New Castle 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>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 New Castle, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 New Castle 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 New Castle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1074, Longitude: -80.9059       In this case, the coordinates for New Castle have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.256 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.721 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.264 degrees.