Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Laurens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laurens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Laurens
- 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 Laurens:
- 34.498814, -82.014775
- 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 Laurens
- 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 Laurens County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Laurens County
- Since Laurens is near Spartanburg County and also Greenwood County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Spartanburg County
- eBird sighting report for Greenwood 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 Laurens ...
We found two communities that share the name Laurens.
Within South Carolina, the name Laurens is unique.
Beyond South Carolina, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- New York
Curious and Interesting Names Near Laurens ...
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.
- Cold Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Point
- Cold Point is located in Laurens County
- Doubling ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Edens ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Gray Court
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Court
- Gray Court is located in Laurens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 826 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gray Court <3>
- Hickory Tavern
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Tavern have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Tavern
- Hickory Tavern is located in Laurens County
- Lisbon ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Long Branch
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Long Branch is located in Laurens County
- Lydia Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lydia Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia Mills
- Lydia Mills is located in Laurens County
- Martin Crossroads
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martin Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Crossroads
- Martin Crossroads is located in Laurens County
- Smallwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
How Far From Laurens 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 city such as Laurens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Laurens and extending to:
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Laurens to Columbia, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 410 miles [659.8 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 24 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,303 miles [10,143.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,002 miles [11,268.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,881 miles [7,855.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Laurens: www.cityoflaurenssc.com/
The official website for Laurens County: www.laurenscountysc.org/
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/
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- Laurens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Laurens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4988, Longitude: -82.0148 |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Laurens to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.893 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.218 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.168 degrees. |