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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old Orchid, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Orchid 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 Old Orchid:
    • 35.000981, -80.955910
    • 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 Old Orchid
  • 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 York County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Since Old Orchid is near Lancaster County and also Mecklenburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg 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 Old Orchid

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Orchid ...

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.

  • Barberville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Barberville is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barberville
  • Cedarwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedarwood is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarwood
  • Colonial Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Colonial Village is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Ebenezer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ebenezer is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
  • Fairlawn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fairlawn is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Forest Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Forest Lake is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
  • Grey Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Grey Rock is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grey Rock
  • Hickory Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hickory Hill is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
  • India Hook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • India Hook is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India Hook
  • Indian Land
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Island View Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Island View Landing is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island View Landing
  • Mexico
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mexico is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pecan Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pecan Grove is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Grove
    • Red River
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Red River is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red River
    • Riverview
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Riverview is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Shadowbrook
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Shadowbrook is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadowbrook
    • Swan Meadows
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Swan Meadows is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Meadows
    • Thorns Ferry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Thorns Ferry is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorns Ferry

How Far From Old Orchid 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 community such as Old Orchid to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Old Orchid and extending to:

  • York, which is the Seat of York County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Old Orchid to York, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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 69 miles [111 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 345 miles [555.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,235 miles [10,034.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,933 miles [11,157.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,813 miles [7,745.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Old Orchid) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Old Orchid 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 Old Orchid. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0010, Longitude: -80.9559       In this case, the coordinates for Old Orchid have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.286 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.594 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.614 degrees.