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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Roland Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Roland Park 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 Roland Park:
    • 34.976261, -80.528400
    • 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 Roland Park
  • 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Since Roland Park is near Chesterfield County and also Mecklenburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg 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 Roland Park

Communities Also Named Roland Park ...

We found three communities that are also named Roland Park.

Within North Carolina, the name Roland Park is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore City
      • This Roland Park is located in Baltimore City and lies 370 miles [595.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Roland Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore City community of Roland Park.
    • New Hampshire
      • Carroll County
      • This Roland Park is located in Carroll County and lies 782 miles [1,258.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Roland Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Roland Park.
    • Virginia
      • Norfolk City
      • This Roland Park is located in Norfolk City and lies 272 miles [437.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Roland Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Norfolk City community of Roland Park.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Roland Park ...

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.

  • Bramblewood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Bramblewood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramblewood
  • Camelot
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Camelot is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Council Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Council Oaks is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council Oaks
  • Fowler Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fowler Crossroads is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Crossroads
  • Hillcrest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillcrest is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Kingswood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Kingswood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
  • Lee Wood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Lee Wood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Wood
  • Rock Rest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rock Rest is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Rest
  • Rolling Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Timber Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Timber Lake is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Lake

How Far From Roland Park to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Roland Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Monroe, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 119 miles [191.5 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Roland Park to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 332 miles [534.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,217 miles [10,005.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,914 miles [11,127 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,795 miles [7,716.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Roland Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Roland Park 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 Roland Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9763, Longitude: -80.5284       In this case, the coordinates for Roland Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.04 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.309 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.456 degrees.