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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gillespie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gillespie 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 Gillespie:
    • 34.625434, -79.988677
    • 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 Gillespie
  • 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 Chesterfield County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield County
    • Since Gillespie is near Darlington County and also Marlboro 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 Marlboro 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 Gillespie

Communities Also Named Gillespie ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Gillespie.

Within South Carolina, the name Gillespie is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Maricopa County
      • This Gillespie is located in Maricopa County and lies 1,883 miles [3,030.4 km]<1> to the west of the Gillespie that is located in Chesterfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Gillespie.
    • California
      • San Joaquin 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 California community of Gillespie [San Joaquin County].
    • Colorado
      • Jefferson 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 Colorado community of Gillespie [Jefferson County].
    • Illinois
      • Macoupin County
      • This Gillespie is located in Macoupin County and lies 625 miles [1,005.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Gillespie that is located in Chesterfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macoupin County community of Gillespie.
    • Iowa
      • Benton 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 Iowa community of Gillespie [Benton County].
    • Kansas
      • Cloud 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 Kansas community of Gillespie [Cloud County].
      • Finney County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Gillespie [Finney County].
    • Michigan
      • Marquette 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 Gillespie [Marquette County].
    • New Jersey
      • Middlesex County
      • This Gillespie is located in Middlesex County and lies 506 miles [814.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Gillespie that is located in Chesterfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Gillespie.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fayette County
      • This Gillespie is located in Fayette County and lies 376 miles [605.1 km]<1> to the north of the Gillespie that is located in Chesterfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Gillespie.
    • Virginia
      • Bedford County
      • This Gillespie is located in Bedford County and lies 181 miles [291.3 km]<1> to the north of the Gillespie that is located in Chesterfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bedford County community of Gillespie.
      • Tazewell County
      • This Gillespie is located in Tazewell County and lies 194 miles [312.2 km] to the north northwest of the Gillespie that is located in Chesterfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tazewell County community of Gillespie.
    • West Virginia
      • Braxton County
      • This Gillespie is located in Braxton County and lies 281 miles [452.2 km]<1> to the north of the Gillespie that is located in Chesterfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Braxton County community of Gillespie.
      • Pocahontas 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 West Virginia community of Gillespie [Pocahontas County].
    • Wyoming
      • Fremont County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Fremont County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fremont County community of Gillespie.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gillespie ...

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.

  • Cash
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Cash is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
  • Everetts ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Everetts is located in Marlboro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everetts
  • Fisher Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fisher Hill is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Hill
  • Green Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Green Hill is located in Darlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Greenplains ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Greenplains is located in Darlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenplains
  • Hunts Mill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hunts Mill is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Mill
  • Hunts Spring ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hunts Spring is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Spring
  • Patrick
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Plumfield Landing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Plumfield Landing is located in Darlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield Landing
  • Rivers ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Rivers is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivers
  • Society Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sparks Ferry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sparks Ferry is located in Marlboro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks Ferry
  • Welsh Neck ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Welsh Neck is located in Marlboro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welsh Neck

How Far From Gillespie 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 Gillespie 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 community of Gillespie once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Gillespie and extending to:

  • Chesterfield, which is the Seat of Chesterfield County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Gillespie to Chesterfield, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 73 miles [117.5 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 337 miles [542.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,210 miles [9,994 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,903 miles [11,109.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,785 miles [7,700.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 from Point A (ie- Gillespie) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Gillespie 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>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 Gillespie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Gillespie 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 Gillespie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6254, Longitude: -79.9887       In this case, the coordinates for Gillespie have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.733 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.904 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.354 degrees.