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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ben Avon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ben Avon 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 Ben Avon:
    • 34.936514, -81.879270
    • 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 Ben Avon
  • 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 Spartanburg County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Spartanburg County
    • Since Ben Avon is near Union County and also Cherokee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cherokee 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 Ben Avon

Communities Also Named Ben Avon ...

We found two communities that are also named Ben Avon.

Within South Carolina, the name Ben Avon is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Ben Avon is located in Allegheny County and lies 397 miles [638.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Ben Avon that is located in Spartanburg County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Ben Avon.
      • Indiana County
      • This Ben Avon is located in Indiana County and lies 417 miles [671.1 km] to the north northeast of the Ben Avon that is located in Spartanburg County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Indiana County community of Ben Avon.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ben Avon ...

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.

  • Cherry Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cherry Hill is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
  • Converse
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Cypress Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cypress Creek is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
  • Farmfields
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Farmfields is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmfields
  • Hartwell Courts
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hartwell Courts is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartwell Courts
  • Hillcrest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillcrest is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Hub City Courts
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hub City Courts is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub City Courts
  • Oak Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Oak Creek is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Creek
  • Park Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Park Hills is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hills
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Quail Hollow
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Quail Hollow is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
    • Rosewood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Rosewood is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewood
    • Summerhill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Summerhill is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerhill
    • Sundance
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Sundance is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sundance
    • Woodwind
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Woodwind is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodwind
    • Zion Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Zion Hill is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Hill

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

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

  • Spartanburg, which is the Seat of Spartanburg County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Ben Avon to Columbia, with an average speed<3>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 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 382 miles [614.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,277 miles [10,101.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,978 miles [11,230 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,857 miles [7,816.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ben Avon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Ben Avon 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 Ben Avon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9365, Longitude: -81.8793       In this case, the coordinates for Ben Avon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.82 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.198 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.994 degrees.