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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smith Crossing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smith Crossing 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 Smith Crossing:
    • 34.322113, -78.648626
    • 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 Smith Crossing
  • 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 Columbus County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbus County
    • Since Smith Crossing is near Bladen County and also Brunswick County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bladen County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brunswick 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 Smith Crossing

Communities Also Named Smith Crossing ...

We found three communities that are also named Smith Crossing.

Within North Carolina, the name Smith Crossing is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Oxford County
      • This Smith Crossing is located in Oxford County and lies 826 miles [1,329.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Smith Crossing that is located in Columbus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oxford County community of Smith Crossing.
    • Michigan
      • Shiawassee County
      • This Smith Crossing is located in Shiawassee County and lies 671 miles [1,079.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Smith Crossing that is located in Columbus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shiawassee County community of Smith Crossing.
    • West Virginia
      • Randolph County
      • This Smith Crossing is located in Randolph County and lies 333 miles [535.9 km]<1> to the north of the Smith Crossing that is located in Columbus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Smith Crossing.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smith Crossing ...

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.

  • Cypress Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Cypress Creek is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
  • Farmers Union
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Farmers Union is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Union
  • Halls
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Halls is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls
  • Hallsboro
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Hallsboro is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallsboro
  • Honey Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Honey Hill is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Hill
  • Mark Pine
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Mark Pine is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mark Pine
  • Peacocks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Peacocks is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacocks
  • Pine Log
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Pine Log is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Log
  • Pleasant Plains
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Plains is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
  • Potters Curve
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Potters Curve is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters Curve
  • Redbug
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Redbug is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbug

How Far From Smith Crossing to ...

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

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

  • Whiteville, which is the Seat of Columbus County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Smith Crossing to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 328 miles [527.9 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 6,164 miles [9,920 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,852 miles [11,027.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,737 miles [7,623.5 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 from Point A (ie- Smith Crossing) 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 Smith Crossing 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 Smith Crossing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3221, Longitude: -78.6486       In this case, the coordinates for Smith Crossing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.98 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.998 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.945 degrees.