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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Speedwell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Speedwell 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 Speedwell:
    • 35.284267, -83.187923
    • 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 Speedwell
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Speedwell is near Macon County and also Swain County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Macon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Swain 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 Speedwell

Communities Also Named Speedwell ...

We found seven communities that are also named Speedwell.

Within North Carolina, the name Speedwell is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Madison County
      • This Speedwell is located in Madison County and lies 173 miles [278.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Speedwell that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Speedwell.
    • New Jersey
      • Burlington County
      • This Speedwell is located in Burlington County and lies 564 miles [907.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Speedwell that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Burlington County community of Speedwell.
    • Ontario
      • This Speedwell lies 592 miles [952.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Speedwell that is located in Jackson County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster County
      • This Speedwell is located in Lancaster County and lies 505 miles [812.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Speedwell that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Speedwell.
    • Tennessee
      • Claiborne County
      • This Speedwell is located in Claiborne County and lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Speedwell that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Claiborne County community of Speedwell.
    • Texas
      • Hale County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Hale County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hale County community of Speedwell.
    • Virginia
      • Wythe County
      • This Speedwell is located in Wythe County and lies 154 miles [247.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Speedwell that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wythe County community of Speedwell.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Speedwell ...

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.

  • Fallcliff
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Fallcliff is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallcliff
  • Fisher Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Fisher Creek is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Creek
  • Gay
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Gay is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay
  • Glenville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Greens Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Greens Creek is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Creek
  • Indian Place
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Place is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Place
  • Love Field
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Love Field is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Love Field
  • Mountain Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain Grove is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
  • Pumpkintown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pumpkintown is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkintown
  • Rich Mountain
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Rich Mountain is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Mountain
  • Ruby City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ruby City is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby City

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

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

  • Sylva, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 257 miles [413.6 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Speedwell to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 420 miles [675.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,317 miles [10,166.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,023 miles [11,302.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,900 miles [7,885.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Speedwell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Speedwell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Speedwell 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 Speedwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.2843, Longitude: -83.1879       In this case, the coordinates for Speedwell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.593 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.135 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.418 degrees.