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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Watkins Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watkins Mill 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 Watkins Mill:
    • 35.005923, -83.308765
    • 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 Watkins Mill
  • 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 Macon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Macon County
    • Since Watkins Mill is near Rabun County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rabun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Watkins Mill

Communities Also Named Watkins Mill ...

We found two communities that are also named Watkins Mill.

Within North Carolina, the name Watkins Mill is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Watkins Mill is located in Montgomery County and lies 442 miles [711.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Watkins Mill that is located in Macon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Watkins Mill.
    • Missouri
      • Clay County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Clay County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Watkins Mill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Watkins Mill ...

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.

  • Earls Ford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Earls Ford is located in Rabun County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earls Ford
  • Lickskillet
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lickskillet is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
  • Mountain City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Orlando
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Orlando is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orlando
  • Otto
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pine Mountain
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Mountain is located in Rabun County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
  • Scaly Mountain
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Sky Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Three Forks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Three Forks is located in Rabun County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
  • Tumblerville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Tumblerville is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumblerville
  • Union
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Union is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

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

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

  • Franklin, which is the Seat of Macon County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Watkins Mill to Franklin, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 268 miles [431.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 437 miles [703.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 25 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,335 miles [10,195.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,040 miles [11,329.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,917 miles [7,913.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Watkins Mill) 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 Watkins Mill, 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 Watkins Mill 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 Watkins Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0059, Longitude: -83.3088       In this case, the coordinates for Watkins Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.659 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.171 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.541 degrees.