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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shepard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shepard and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Shepard:
    • 34.322819, -80.539299
    • 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 Shepard
  • 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 Kershaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kershaw County
    • Since Shepard is near Lee County and also Sumter County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter 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 Shepard

Communities Also Named Shepard ...

We found eight communities that are also named Shepard.

Within South Carolina, the name Shepard is unique.

Beyond South Carolina, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Shepard lies 2,020 miles [3,250.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Shepard that is located in Kershaw County.
    • Iowa
      • Union County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Shepard [Union County].
    • Missouri
      • Iron County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Shepard [Iron County].
    • North Carolina
      • Durham County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Shepard [Durham County].
    • North Dakota
      • Griggs County
      • This Shepard is located in Griggs County and lies 1,282 miles [2,063.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Shepard that is located in Kershaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Griggs County community of Shepard.
      • Pembina County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Dakota community of Shepard [Pembina County].
    • Ohio
      • Franklin County
      • This Shepard is located in Franklin County and lies 412 miles [663 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Shepard that is located in Kershaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Shepard.
    • Tennessee
      • Haywood County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Shepard [Haywood County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shepard ...

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.

  • Cool Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cool Springs is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Springs
  • Dusty Bend
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Dusty Bend is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dusty Bend
  • Hermitage Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hermitage Mill is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage Mill
  • Kirkover Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kirkover Hills is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkover Hills
  • Knights Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Knights Hill is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Hill
  • Log Town ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Log Town is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Town
  • Paint Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Paint Hill is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Hill
  • Peckwoods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Peckwoods is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peckwoods
  • Pine Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Creek is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
  • Sandy Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy Springs is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Springs
  • Sunnyhill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunnyhill is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyhill
  • Tickle Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Tickle Hill is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tickle Hill
  • Valley Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Valley Park is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Park

How Far From Shepard to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Shepard to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Shepard and extending to:

  • Camden, which is the Seat of Kershaw County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Shepard to Columbia, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 370 miles [595.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,247 miles [10,053.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,941 miles [11,170.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,823 miles [7,761.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Shepard) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Shepard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Shepard 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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Shepard 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 Shepard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3228, Longitude: -80.5393       In this case, the coordinates for Shepard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.044 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.218 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.652 degrees.