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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brockton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brockton 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 Brockton:
    • 34.184877, -79.880620
    • 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 Brockton
  • 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 Florence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Florence County
    • Since Brockton is near Darlington County and also Lee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Darlington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee 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 Brockton

Communities Also Named Brockton ...

We found nine communities that are also named Brockton.

Within South Carolina, the name Brockton is unique.

Beyond South Carolina, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Jackson County
      • This Brockton is located in Jackson County and lies 206 miles [331.5 km]<1> to the west of the Brockton that is located in Florence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Brockton.
    • Massachusetts
      • Plymouth County
      • This Brockton is located in Plymouth County and lies 726 miles [1,168.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Brockton that is located in Florence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Plymouth County community of Brockton.
    • Michigan
      • Sanilac County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Brockton [Sanilac County].
    • Mississippi
      • Lauderdale County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Brockton [Lauderdale County].
    • Montana
      • Dawson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Brockton [Dawson County].
      • Roosevelt County
      • This Brockton is located in Roosevelt County and lies 1,607 miles [2,586.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Brockton that is located in Florence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roosevelt County community of Brockton.
    • Ontario
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Schuylkill County
      • This Brockton is located in Schuylkill County and lies 498 miles [801.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Brockton that is located in Florence County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schuylkill County community of Brockton.
    • Prince Edward Island
      • This Brockton lies 1,192 miles [1,918.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Brockton that is located in Florence County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brockton ...

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.

  • College Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • College Park is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Cypress Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cypress Point is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Point
  • Ebenezer
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Ebenezer is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
  • Enchanted Meadows
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Enchanted Meadows is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Meadows
  • Farmwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Farmwood is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmwood
  • Ferndale
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Ferndale is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
  • Grove Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grove Park is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • Heritage
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Heritage is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage
  • Hillcrest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hillcrest is located in Florence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Kelly Farms
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Kelly Farms is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Farms
    • Kings Grant
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Kings Grant is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Grant
    • Landmark Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Landmark Woods is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landmark Woods
    • Pineneedles
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Pineneedles is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineneedles
    • Rose Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Rose Hill is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
    • Sweetbriar
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Sweetbriar is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetbriar

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

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

  • Florence, which is the Seat of Florence County, lies just to the East.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 67 miles [107.8 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Brockton to Columbia, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 361 miles [581 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,224 miles [10,016.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,916 miles [11,130.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,799 miles [7,723.2 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 from Point A (ie- Brockton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Brockton 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.
<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 Brockton 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 Brockton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1849, Longitude: -79.8806       In this case, the coordinates for Brockton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.671 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.77 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.445 degrees.