Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Pontiac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pontiac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Pontiac
- 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 Pontiac:
- 34.128484, -80.854809
- 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 Pontiac
- 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 Richland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Richland County
- Since Pontiac is near Kershaw County and also Fairfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kershaw County
- eBird sighting report for Fairfield 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 Pontiac ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Pontiac.
Within South Carolina, the name Pontiac is unique.
Beyond South Carolina, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Livingston County
- This Pontiac is located in Livingston County and lies 631 miles [1,015.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Pontiac that is located in Richland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Pontiac.
- Saint Clair County
- This Pontiac is located in Saint Clair County and lies 593 miles [954.3 km] to the northwest of the Pontiac that is located in Richland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Pontiac.
- Indiana
- Boone County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Pontiac [Boone County].
- Clay County
- This Pontiac is located in Clay County and lies 511 miles [822.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the Pontiac that is located in Richland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Pontiac.
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New York
- Ohio
- Quebec
- Rhode Island
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pontiac ...
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.
- Beaver Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
- Beaver Creek is located in Kershaw County
- Chimney Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chimney Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Ridge
- Chimney Ridge is located in Richland County
- Dentsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dentsville
- Dentsville is located in Richland County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dentsville <4>
- Edinburgh
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Green Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Springs
- Green Springs is located in Richland County
- Huntcliff
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Jiggs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Lisbon ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Rockbridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockbridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockbridge
- Rockbridge is located in Richland County
- Rose Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Creek
- Rose Creek is located in Richland County
- Sandwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Sharp
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Continue List (4 more) ...
- Spears Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spears Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spears Creek
- Spears Creek is located in Kershaw County
- Spring Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Spring Valley is located in Richland County
- Springwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Springwood is located in Richland County
- Tanglewood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tanglewood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
- Tanglewood is located in Richland County
- Spears Creek
How Far From Pontiac to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Pontiac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Pontiac and extending to:
- Columbia, which is the Seat of Richland County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Pontiac to Columbia, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take 6 hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 391 miles [629.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 23 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,269 miles [10,089 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,963 miles [11,205.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,845 miles [7,797.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Pontiac. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Richland County: www.richlandonline.com/
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Pontiac 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pontiac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pontiac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1285, Longitude: -80.8548 In this case, the coordinates for Pontiac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Pontiac 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 310.222 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.394 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.828 degrees. |