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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Olin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Olin 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 Olin:
    • 35.952635, -80.839793
    • 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 Olin
  • 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 Iredell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iredell County
    • Since Olin is near Davie County and also Yadkin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Davie County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yadkin 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 Olin

Communities Also Named Olin ...

We found six communities that are also named Olin.

Within North Carolina, the name Olin is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Peoria County
      • This Olin is located in Peoria County and lies 585 miles [941.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Olin that is located in Iredell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Peoria County community of Olin.
    • Indiana
      • Warren County
      • This Olin is located in Warren County and lies 460 miles [740.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Olin that is located in Iredell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Olin.
    • Iowa
      • Jones County
      • This Olin is located in Jones County and lies 692 miles [1,113.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Olin that is located in Iredell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jones County community of Olin.
    • Kentucky
      • Jackson County
      • This Olin is located in Jackson County and lies 198 miles [318.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Olin that is located in Iredell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Olin.
    • South Carolina
      • Georgetown County
      • This Olin is located in Georgetown County and lies 191 miles [307.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Olin that is located in Iredell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Georgetown County community of Olin.
    • Texas
      • Hamilton County
      • This Olin is located in Hamilton County and lies 1,027 miles [1,652.8 km]<1> to the west of the Olin that is located in Iredell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Olin.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Olin ...

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.

  • Charles
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Charles is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charles
  • Eagle Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Eagle Mills is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mills
  • Gather ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gather is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gather
  • Harmony
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Houstonville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Houstonville is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houstonville
  • Jennings
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jennings is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
  • Sharp ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Sharp is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp
  • Snow Creek ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Snow Creek is located in Iredell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Creek
  • Union Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Statesville, which is the Seat of Iredell County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Olin to Statesville, with an average speed<3> 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 123 miles [197.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 291 miles [468.3 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,187 miles [9,957 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,889 miles [11,086.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,768 miles [7,673.4 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Olin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Olin 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 Olin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9526, Longitude: -80.8398       In this case, the coordinates for Olin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.219 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.655 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.284 degrees.