Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Owens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Owens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Owens
- 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 Owens:
- 34.415120, -82.168168
- 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 Owens
- 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 Owens is near Greenwood County and also Abbeville County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Greenwood County
- eBird sighting report for Abbeville 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 Owens ...
We found 24 communities that share the name Owens.
There are three communities within South Carolina that are also named Owens.
Beyond South Carolina, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In South Carolina ...
- Georgetown County
- Horry County
- Spartanburg County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Etowah County
- This Owens is located in Etowah County and lies 211 miles [339.6 km]<1> to the west of the Owens that is located in Laurens County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Etowah County community of Owens.
- Pickens County
- This Owens is located in Pickens County and lies 346 miles [556.8 km] to the west of the Owens that is located in Laurens County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pickens County community of Owens.
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Brown County
- This Owens is located in Brown County and lies 983 miles [1,582 km]<1> to the west of the Owens that is located in Laurens County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brown County community of Owens.
- Crosby County
- This Owens is located in Crosby County and lies 1,098 miles [1,767.1 km] to the west of the Owens that is located in Laurens County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crosby County community of Owens.
- Virginia
- Botetourt County
- This Owens is located in Botetourt County and lies 257 miles [413.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Owens that is located in Laurens County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Botetourt County community of Owens.
- King George County
- This Owens is located in King George County and lies 391 miles [629.3 km] to the northeast of the Owens that is located in Laurens County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the King George County community of Owens.
- Sussex County
- This Owens is located in Sussex County and lies 314 miles [505.3 km] to the east northeast of the Owens that is located in Laurens County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sussex County community of Owens.
- West Virginia
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Owens ...
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.
- Blue Heaven
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Heaven have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Heaven
- Blue Heaven is located in Abbeville County
- Cold Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Point
- Cold Point is located in Laurens County
- Erie ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Hickory Tavern
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Tavern have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Tavern
- Hickory Tavern is located in Laurens County
- Isle of Pines
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle of Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Pines
- Isle of Pines is located in Laurens County
- Jones ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Poplar Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
- Poplar Springs is located in Laurens County
- Reedy River ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reedy River have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedy River
- Reedy River is located in Laurens County
- Shoals Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shoals Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoals Junction
- Shoals Junction is located in Greenwood County
- Tumbling Shoals ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tumbling Shoals have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumbling Shoals
- Tumbling Shoals is located in Laurens County
How Far From Owens 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 Owens 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 Owens once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Owens and extending to:
- Laurens, which is the Seat of Laurens County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Owens to Laurens, 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 70 miles [112.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 420 miles [675.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,313 miles [10,159.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,013 miles [11,286.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,892 miles [7,872.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Owens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Owens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4151, Longitude: -82.1682 In this case, the coordinates for Owens 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 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 Owens 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 Owens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Owens 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 310.98 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.306 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.251 degrees. |