Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Southwest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southwest and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Southwest
- 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 Southwest:
- 34.738498, -77.508301
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Southwest
- 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 Onslow County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Onslow County
- Since Southwest is near Duplin County and also Pender County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Duplin County
- eBird sighting report for Pender 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Southwest ...
We found four communities that share the name Southwest.
Within North Carolina, the name Southwest is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Indiana
- Missouri
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Southwest ...
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.
- Branchwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Branchwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchwood
- Branchwood is located in Onslow County
- Catherine Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catherine Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine Lake
- Catherine Lake is located in Onslow County
- Cedar Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
- Cedar Creek is located in Onslow County
- Forest Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Forest Grove is located in Onslow County
- Georgetown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Georgetown is located in Onslow County
- Greystone
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Half Moon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Hawkside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Haws Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Houston Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houston Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Heights
- Houston Heights is located in Onslow County
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Paradise Park
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paradise Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
- Paradise Park is located in Onslow County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Raintree
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Shamrock Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shamrock Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock Village
- Shamrock Village is located in Onslow County
- Tar Landing
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tar Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tar Landing
- Tar Landing is located in Onslow County
- Willow Woods
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods
- Willow Woods is located in Onslow County
- Raintree
How Far From Southwest 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 Southwest to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Southwest and extending to:
- Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Onslow County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Southwest to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>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 288 miles [463.5 km] to the north (N). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,095 miles [9,809 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,782 miles [10,914.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,668 miles [7,512.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Southwest. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Onslow County: www.co.onslow.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Southwest 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Southwest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Southwest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7385, Longitude: -77.5083 In this case, the coordinates for Southwest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Southwest to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.34 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.325 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.39 degrees. |