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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pinson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pinson 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 Pinson:
    • 35.525694, -80.033381
    • 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 Pinson
  • 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
    • Since Pinson is near Montgomery County and also Davidson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Davidson 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 Pinson

Communities Also Named Pinson ...

We found four communities that are also named Pinson.

Within North Carolina, the name Pinson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Pinson is located in Jefferson County and lies 398 miles [640.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Pinson that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Pinson.
    • Georgia
      • Floyd County
      • This Pinson is located in Floyd County and lies 295 miles [474.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Pinson that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Pinson.
    • Kentucky
      • Pike 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 Kentucky community of Pinson [Pike County].
    • Tennessee
      • Madison County
      • This Pinson is located in Madison County and lies 488 miles [785.4 km]<1> to the west of the Pinson that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Pinson.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pinson ...

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.

  • Blaine
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Blaine is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
  • Complex
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Complex is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Complex
  • Eldorado
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Eldorado is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
  • Farmer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Farmer is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
  • Flint Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Flint Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
  • Handy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Handy is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handy
  • Lovejoy
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lovejoy is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovejoy
  • Martha
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Martha is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martha
  • Stokes Ferry ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Stokes Ferry is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes Ferry
  • Wind Hill ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Wind Hill is located in Davidson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wind Hill

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

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

  • Asheboro, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Pinson to Asheboro, 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 80 miles [128.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 285 miles [458.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 6,172 miles [9,932.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,870 miles [11,056.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,749 miles [7,642.8 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pinson) 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 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 Pinson 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>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 Pinson 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 Pinson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5257, Longitude: -80.0334       In this case, the coordinates for Pinson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.754 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.06 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.097 degrees.