Welcome to Orion ...

Orion is located in Ashe County<1>.

The location of Orion has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Orion, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1899.

Orion is 2,790 feet [850 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of Orion is about ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: Orion lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Orion: (336)

Communities Also Named Orion ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 13 communities that are also named Orion - they are located in Alabama, Alberta, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas (2), Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Orion.

Communities near Orion ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Orion.

• Boone
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone
  • Boone is located in Watauga County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,003 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boone <4>
• Sparta
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
  • Sparta is located in Alleghany County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,723 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sparta <4>
• Jefferson
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
  • Jefferson is located in Ashe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,534 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jefferson <4>
• Trade
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trade
  • Trade is located in Johnson County (TN)
  • Estimated population in 2014: 1,441 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trade <4>
• West Jefferson
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Jefferson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jefferson
  • West Jefferson is located in Ashe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,313 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Jefferson <4>
• Dowell ‑ Historic
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dowell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowell
  • Dowell is located in Johnson County (TN)
  • Estimated population in 2014: 364 people
• Lansing
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansing
  • Lansing is located in Ashe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lansing <4>
• Glendale Springs
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glendale Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale Springs
  • Glendale Springs is located in Ashe County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glendale Springs <4>
• Transou
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Transou have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Transou
  • Transou is located in Ashe County
• Warrensville
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrensville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrensville
  • Warrensville is located in Ashe County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warrensville <4>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Orion. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Orion.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Orion. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orion.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Orion. See our Newspapers Page for Orion.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Orion ...

Looking for more information about Orion? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Orion, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Orion.

Adding Orion to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Orion in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Orion was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Orion post office opened in 1899.

We also found Orion on a map titled Rand McNally Map of North Carolina (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Orion.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orion. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Ashe County: www.ashecountygov.com/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/