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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Furman, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Furman 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 Furman:
    • 32.681197, -81.187506
    • 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 Furman
  • 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 Hampton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampton County
    • Since Furman is near Jasper County and also Effingham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jasper County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Effingham 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 Furman

Communities Also Named Furman ...

We found four communities that are also named Furman.

Within South Carolina, the name Furman is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Wilcox County
      • This Furman is located in Wilcox County and lies 340 miles [547.2 km]<1> to the west of the Furman that is located in Hampton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilcox County community of Furman.
    • Alberta
      • This Furman lies 2,052 miles [3,302.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Furman that is located in Hampton County.
    • Illinois
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Furman is located in Saint Clair County and lies 639 miles [1,028.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Furman that is located in Hampton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Furman.
    • Mississippi
      • Jasper 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 Furman [Jasper County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Furman ...

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.

  • Grays
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Grays is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays
  • Horsegall
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Horsegall is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsegall
  • Lena
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lena is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
  • Nixville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Nixville is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixville
  • Peeples ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Peeples is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeples
  • Robertville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Robertville is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertville
  • Speaks Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Speaks Mill is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speaks Mill
  • Steep Bottom ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Steep Bottom is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steep Bottom
  • Stokes
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Stokes is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
  • Valentine
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Valentine is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine

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

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

  • Hampton, which is the Seat of Hampton County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Furman to Hampton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 91 miles [146.5 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 most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 488 miles [785.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,349 miles [10,217.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,037 miles [11,325 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,922 miles [7,921.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Furman) 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 Furman 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 Furman 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 Furman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.6812, Longitude: -81.1875    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.383 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.372 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.349 degrees.