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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Poinsetta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Poinsetta 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 Poinsetta:
    • 34.732342, -82.243727
    • 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 Poinsetta
  • 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 Greenville County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greenville County
    • Since Poinsetta is near Laurens County and also Spartanburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Laurens County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Spartanburg 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 Poinsetta

Curious and Interesting Names Near Poinsetta ...

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.

  • Camelot
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Camelot is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cherokee Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cherokee Heights is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Heights
  • Cooks Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cooks Crossroads is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Crossroads
  • Fern Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Fern Creek is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Creek
  • Five Forks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Five Forks is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Fountain Inn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Heritage Lakes
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Heritage Lakes is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Lakes
  • Holly Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Springs is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • Hunters Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hunters Woods is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Woods
  • Ponderosa
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Ponderosa is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa
  • Powderhorn
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Powderhorn is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powderhorn
  • Summerwoods
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Summerwoods is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwoods
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sunset Forest
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset Forest is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Forest
    • Woodhedge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodhedge is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodhedge
    • Woodland Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Woodland Village is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
    • Woodwinds
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodwinds is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodwinds

How Far From Poinsetta 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 Poinsetta to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Greenville, which is the Seat of Greenville County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Poinsetta to Greenville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 85 miles [136.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 406 miles [653.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,302 miles [10,142.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,003 miles [11,270.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,882 miles [7,856.8 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 from Point A (ie- Poinsetta) 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 Poinsetta 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 Poinsetta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7323, Longitude: -82.2437       In this case, the coordinates for Poinsetta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.029 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.408 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.193 degrees.