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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Penelope, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Penelope 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 Penelope:
    • 35.729021, -81.399811
    • 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 Penelope
  • 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 Burke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Burke County
    • Since Penelope is near Catawba County and also Caldwell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Catawba County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Caldwell 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 Penelope

Communities Also Named Penelope ...

We found two communities that are also named Penelope.

Within North Carolina, the name Penelope is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Broome County
      • This Penelope is located in Broome County and lies 547 miles [880.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Penelope that is located in Burke County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Broome County community of Penelope.
    • Texas
      • Hill County
      • This Penelope is located in Hill County and lies 929 miles [1,495.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Penelope that is located in Burke County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hill County community of Penelope.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Penelope ...

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.

  • Advent Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Advent Crossroads is located in Catawba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advent Crossroads
  • Drowning Creek ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Drowning Creek is located in Burke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Creek
  • Fairbrook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fairbrook is located in Catawba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbrook
  • Grace Chapel
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Grace Chapel is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Chapel
  • Granite Falls
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Henry River
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Henry River is located in Burke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry River
  • Hickory
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hickory is located in Catawba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,473 people
  • Long View
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Long View is located in Catawba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people
  • Mountain View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain View is located in Catawba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Sweetwater
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sweetwater is located in Catawba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater

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

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

  • Morganton, which is the Seat of Burke County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Penelope to Morganton, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 154 miles [247.8 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 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 324 miles [521.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,221 miles [10,011.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,924 miles [11,143.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,802 miles [7,728.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Penelope) 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 Penelope 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 Penelope. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7290, Longitude: -81.3998       In this case, the coordinates for Penelope have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.546 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.998 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.575 degrees.