Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Harbin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harbin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Harbin
- 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 Harbin:
- 34.647319, -83.170434
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Harbin
- 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 Oconee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Oconee County
- Since Harbin is near Stephens County and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Stephens County
- eBird sighting report for Franklin 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Harbin ...
We found four communities that share the name Harbin.
Within South Carolina, the name Harbin is unique.
Beyond South Carolina, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Harbin ...
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.
- Brasstown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Fighting Pine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fighting Pine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fighting Pine
- Fighting Pine is located in Stephens County (GA)
- Five Points
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Oconee County
- Hicks Store
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hicks Store have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Store
- Hicks Store is located in Oconee County
- Holly Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Holly Springs is located in Oconee County
- Horse Shoe ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horse Shoe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Shoe
- Horse Shoe is located in Oconee County
- Jason
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Jenkins Ferry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jenkins Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Ferry
- Jenkins Ferry is located in Stephens County (GA)
- Johns Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johns Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johns Mill
- Johns Mill is located in Oconee County
- Oakway
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Retreat
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
How Far From Harbin 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 Harbin 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<4> community of Harbin once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Harbin and extending to:
- Walhalla, which is the Seat of Oconee County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Harbin to Walhalla, 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 129 miles [207.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 448 miles [721 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,346 miles [10,212.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,049 miles [11,344.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,927 miles [7,929.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Oconee County: www.oconeesc.com/
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Harbin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harbin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6473, Longitude: -83.1704 In this case, the coordinates for Harbin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Harbin 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | 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 Harbin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Harbin to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.569 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.016 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.581 degrees. |