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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Poplar Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Poplar Ridge 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 Poplar Ridge:
    • 36.072363, -79.068623
    • 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 Poplar Ridge
  • 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Since Poplar Ridge is near Durham County and also Alamance County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Durham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alamance 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 Poplar Ridge

Communities Also Named Poplar Ridge ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Poplar Ridge.

Within North Carolina, the name Poplar Ridge is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Madison County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Poplar Ridge [Madison County].
      • Marshall County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Marshall County and lies 423 miles [680.8 km]<2> to the west of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Poplar Ridge.
    • Alberta
      • This Poplar Ridge lies 2,304 miles [3,707.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
    • Arkansas
      • Craighead County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Craighead County and lies 633 miles [1,018.7 km]<2> to the west of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Craighead County community of Poplar Ridge.
    • Illinois
      • Jackson County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Jackson County and lies 579 miles [931.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Poplar Ridge.
      • Will County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Will County and lies 618 miles [994.6 km] to the northwest of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Will County community of Poplar Ridge.
    • Manitoba
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 254 miles [408.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Poplar Ridge.
    • New York
      • Cayuga County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Cayuga County and lies 478 miles [769.3 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cayuga County community of Poplar Ridge.
    • Ohio
      • Darke County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Darke County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Darke County community of Poplar Ridge.
    • Tennessee
      • Dyer County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Dyer County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<2> to the west of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dyer County community of Poplar Ridge.
    • Virginia
      • Chesapeake City
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Chesapeake City and lies 164 miles [263.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chesapeake City community of Poplar Ridge.
      • Frederick County
      • This Poplar Ridge is located in Frederick County and lies 212 miles [341.2 km] to the north of the Poplar Ridge that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Poplar Ridge.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Poplar Ridge ...

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.

  • Cascades
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cascades is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascades
  • Cornwallis Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cornwallis Hills is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwallis Hills
  • Falls of New Hope
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Falls of New Hope is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls of New Hope
  • Hillcrest
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hillcrest is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Mountain View
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Mountain View is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Orange Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Orange Heights is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Heights
  • Piney Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Piney Grove is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
  • Rosewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Rosewood is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewood
  • Stagecoach Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Stagecoach Run is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stagecoach Run
  • University
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • University is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University
  • Walnut Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Walnut Cove is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Cove
  • Whispering Pines
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Whispering Pines is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
  • Wildwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Wildwood is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
  • Willow Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Willow Ridge is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Ridge

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

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

  • Hillsborough, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Poplar Ridge to Raleigh, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 224 miles [360.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,106 miles [9,826.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,804 miles [10,950 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,684 miles [7,538.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Poplar Ridge 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.
<2>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- Poplar Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Poplar Ridge 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 Poplar Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0724, Longitude: -79.0686       In this case, the coordinates for Poplar Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.191 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.496 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.545 degrees.