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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Starks Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Starks Ferry 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 Starks Ferry:
    • 33.793768, -80.603976
    • 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 Starks Ferry
  • 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 Sumter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter County
    • Since Starks Ferry is near Richland County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Starks Ferry

Curious and Interesting Names Near Starks Ferry ...

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.

  • Cherryvale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cherryvale is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherryvale
  • Dixie Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Dixie Crossing is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie Crossing
  • Foxville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Foxville is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxville
  • Hearthstone
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hearthstone is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hearthstone
  • Kingville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Kingville is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingville
  • Lone Star
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Lone Star is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Malta
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Malta is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
  • Privateer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Privateer is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Privateer
  • Rainbow Falls
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Rainbow Falls is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Falls
  • Sanders Corner
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Sanders Corner is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Corner
  • Shady Grove
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Shady Grove is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Stokes
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Stokes is located in Clarendon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Summer View
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Summer View is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer View
    • Tina
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Tina is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tina
    • Twin Lakes
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Twin Lakes is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Winter Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Winter Park is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Park

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Starks Ferry and extending to:

  • Sumter, which is the Seat of Sumter County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Starks Ferry to Sumter, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 28 miles [45.1 km] to the west northwest (WNW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 404 miles [650.2 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,273 miles [10,095.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,965 miles [11,209.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,848 miles [7,802.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Starks Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Starks Ferry 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 Starks Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7938, Longitude: -80.6040       In this case, the coordinates for Starks Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.076 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.179 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.829 degrees.