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

Tidbits & Trivia

Introduction ...

Below is our collection of tidbits and odds 'n ends for Riverdowns.

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Riverdowns, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riverdowns 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 Riverdowns:
    • 34.900673, -82.271782<1>
    • 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 Riverdowns
  • 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 Riverdowns is near Spartanburg County and also Laurens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Spartanburg County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Laurens 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 Riverdowns

Curious and Interesting Names Near Riverdowns ...

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.

  • Cane Brake
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cane Brake is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Brake
  • Cherokee Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cherokee Forest is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Forest
  • Chick Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Chick Springs is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chick Springs
  • Dove Tree
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Dove Tree is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dove Tree
  • Green Fields
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Fields is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Fields
  • Green Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Green Forest is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Forest
  • Grey Fox Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Grey Fox Run is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grey Fox Run
  • Groveland Dell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Groveland Dell is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland Dell
  • Kings ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Kings was located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings
  • Kingsgate
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingsgate is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsgate
  • Lakeview Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeview Heights is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Heights
  • Maple
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Maple is also located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Maplewood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Maplewood is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
    • Mountain Brook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Mountain Brook is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Brook
    • Nursery ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Nursery was located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nursery
    • Peppertree
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Peppertree is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppertree
    • Pleasant Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Pleasant Grove is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
    • Quail Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Quail Ridge is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Ridge
    • Rosedale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Rosedale is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
    • Seven Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Seven Oaks is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
    • Silver Leaf
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Silver Leaf is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Leaf
    • Sugar Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Sugar Creek is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
    • Sugar Mill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Sugar Mill is also located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Mill

How Far From Riverdowns 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 included the distance from a community such as Riverdowns to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Greenville, which is the Seat of Greenville County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Riverdowns to Columbia, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 399 miles [642.1 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 6,296 miles [10,132.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,997 miles [11,260.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,876 miles [7,847.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>

Footnotes ...

<1>GPS Coordinates for Riverdowns:
     Decimal: 34.90067, -82.271782
     DDMMSS: 34° 54' 2", -82° 16' 18"
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Riverdowns) 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 Riverdowns 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 Riverdowns. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9007, Longitude: -82.2718       In this case, the coordinates for Riverdowns have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.048 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.454 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.158 degrees.