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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in James Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to James Island 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 James Island:
    • 32.729928, -79.956143
    • 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 James Island
  • 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 Charleston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charleston County
    • Since James Island is near Berkeley County and also Dorchester County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berkeley County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dorchester 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 James Island

Curious and Interesting Names Near James Island ...

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.

  • Bayfront
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Bayfront is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayfront
  • Centerville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Centerville is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Clarks Sound
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Clarks Sound is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Sound
  • Creek Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Creek Point is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek Point
  • Green Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Green Hill is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Harbor View
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Harbor View is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
  • Harbor Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Harbor Woods is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Woods
  • Honey Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Honey Hill is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Hill
  • Landsdowne
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Landsdowne is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landsdowne
  • Laurel Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Laurel Park is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
  • Oceanview
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Oceanview is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanview
  • Oyster Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Oyster Point is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Point
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Quail Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Quail Run is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Riverpoint
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Riverpoint is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverpoint
    • Riverview
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Riverview is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Seaside
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Seaside is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaside
    • Three Trees
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Three Trees is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Trees
    • Tidalview
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Tidalview is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tidalview

How Far From James Island to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a town such as James Island to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in James Island and extending to:

  • Charleston, which is the Seat of Charleston County, lies just to the North.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from James Island to Columbia, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 456 miles [733.9 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,292 miles [10,126 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,976 miles [11,226.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,863 miles [7,826.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- James Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 James Island 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 James Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.7299, Longitude: -79.9561    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.701 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.595 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.893 degrees.