RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Carolina >> Aiken County >> Apia >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Apia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Apia 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 Apia:
    • 33.503477, -81.540107
    • 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 Apia
  • 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 Aiken County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Aiken County
    • Since Apia is near Barnwell County and also Orangeburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barnwell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orangeburg 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 Apia

Curious and Interesting Names Near Apia ...

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.

  • Balltown
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Balltown is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balltown
  • Camp Long
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Camp Long is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Long
  • Deerwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Deerwood is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
  • Dry Branch
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dry Branch is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
  • Foxchase
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Foxchase is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxchase
  • Hidden Haven
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Hidden Haven is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Haven
  • Hillview
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillview is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
  • Huntcliff
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Huntcliff is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntcliff
  • Hunters Glen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hunters Glen is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Glen
  • New Holland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • New Holland is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holland
  • Pinecrest
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pinecrest is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecrest
  • Quail Hollow
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Quail Hollow is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Roseland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Roseland is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Spring Branch ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Branch is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Branch
    • Stone Gap
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Stone Gap is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Gap
    • Wood Valley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Wood Valley is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Valley

How Far From Apia to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Apia once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Apia and extending to:

  • Aiken, which is the Seat of Aiken County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Apia to Aiken, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 448 miles [721 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,327 miles [10,182.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,020 miles [11,297.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,903 miles [7,890.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Apia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Apia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Apia 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 Apia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5035, Longitude: -81.5401       In this case, the coordinates for Apia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.601 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.741 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.259 degrees.