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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wards, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wards and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Wards:
    • 34.265724, -78.838633
    • 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 Wards
  • 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 Wards is near Horry County and also Robeson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Horry County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Robeson 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 Wards

Communities Also Named Wards ...

We found ten communities that are also named Wards.

Within North Carolina, the name Wards is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Saint Clair 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 Illinois community of Wards [Saint Clair County].
    • Kentucky
      • Green County
      • This Wards is located in Green County and lies 438 miles [704.9 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Wards that is located in Columbus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Green County community of Wards.
      • Rockcastle 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 Kentucky community of Wards [Rockcastle County].
    • Michigan
      • Antrim 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 Michigan community of Wards [Antrim County].
      • Manistee County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Wards [Manistee County].
      • Schoolcraft County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Wards [Schoolcraft County].
    • Missouri
      • Saint Charles 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 Missouri community of Wards [Saint Charles County].
    • Ohio
      • Columbiana County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Columbiana County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbiana County community of Wards.
      • Putnam County
      • This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Wards [Putnam County].
    • South Carolina
      • Edgefield 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 South Carolina community of Wards [Edgefield County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wards ...

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.

  • Bird Cage
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bird Cage is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird Cage
  • Cedar Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Cribb Town
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cribb Town is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cribb Town
  • Grist
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Grist is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grist
  • Nobles Crossing
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Nobles Crossing is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nobles Crossing
  • Peacocks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Peacocks is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacocks
  • Potters Curve
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Potters Curve is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters Curve
  • Roseland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Roseland is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
  • Vinegar Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Vinegar Hill is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinegar Hill

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

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

  • Whiteville, which is the Seat of Columbus County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wards to Whiteville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 105 miles [169 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 335 miles [539.1 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,175 miles [9,937.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,863 miles [11,044.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,748 miles [7,641.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Wards 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- Wards) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Wards, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Wards 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 Wards. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2657, Longitude: -78.8386       In this case, the coordinates for Wards have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.087 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.112 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.033 degrees.