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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gadsden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gadsden 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 Gadsden:
    • 33.845553, -80.764597
    • 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 Gadsden
  • 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 Richland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richland County
    • Since Gadsden is near Calhoun County and also Sumter County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter 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 Gadsden

Communities Also Named Gadsden ...

We found five communities that are also named Gadsden.

Within South Carolina, the name Gadsden is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Etowah County
      • This Gadsden is located in Etowah County and lies 301 miles [484.4 km]<1> to the west of the Gadsden that is located in Richland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Etowah County community of Gadsden.
    • Arizona
      • Yuma County
      • This Gadsden is located in Yuma County and lies 1,958 miles [3,151.1 km]<1> to the west of the Gadsden that is located in Richland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yuma County community of Gadsden.
    • Indiana
      • Boone County
      • This Gadsden is located in Boone County and lies 527 miles [848.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Gadsden that is located in Richland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Gadsden.
    • Tennessee
      • Crockett County
      • This Gadsden is located in Crockett County and lies 484 miles [778.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Gadsden that is located in Richland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crockett County community of Gadsden.
    • Texas
      • Lamar 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 Texas community of Gadsden [Lamar County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gadsden ...

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.

  • Dominion Hills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Foxville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Foxville is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxville
  • Galaxy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Galaxy is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galaxy
  • Independents
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Independents is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independents
  • Kingville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kingville is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingville
  • Lee Hills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lee Hills is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Hills
  • Leesburg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Leesburg is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesburg
  • Malta
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Malta is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
  • Mountain Brook
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mountain Brook is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Brook
  • Oak Grove
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Oak Grove is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Quail Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Quail Creek is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Creek
  • Quail Hills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Quail Hills is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hills
  • Sandy Run
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Sandy Run is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Run
  • Starks Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Starks Ferry is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks Ferry

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

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

  • Columbia, which is the Seat of Richland County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Gadsden to Columbia, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 18 miles [29 km] to the northwest (NW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 405 miles [651.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,970 miles [11,217.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,853 miles [7,810.1 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Gadsden) 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 Gadsden 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 Gadsden 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 Gadsden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8456, Longitude: -80.7646    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.168 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.291 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.874 degrees.