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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in State Farm, we use the following websites to find information relevant to State Farm 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 State Farm:
    • 34.096819, -80.577305
    • 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 State Farm
  • 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 State Farm is near Kershaw County and also Richland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kershaw County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richland 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 State Farm

Communities Also Named State Farm ...

We found one communities that are also named State Farm.

Within South Carolina, the name State Farm is unique.

Beyond South Carolina, there is another community also named State Farm in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Massachusetts
      • Plymouth 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 Massachusetts community of State Farm [Plymouth County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near State Farm ...

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
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Beaver Creek is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
  • Catchall
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Catchall is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catchall
  • Cedar Creek ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Creek is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
  • Ellerbees Mill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ellerbees Mill is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerbees Mill
  • English ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • English is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
  • Green Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Green Valley is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Hillcrest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillcrest is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Leesburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Leesburg is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesburg
  • Meadow View
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Meadow View is located in Kershaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow View
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Paint Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Paint Hill is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Hill
    • Pecan Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Pecan Grove is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Grove
    • Pecan Orchard
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Pecan Orchard is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Orchard
    • Sanders Corner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Sanders Corner is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Corner
    • Spears Creek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Spears Creek is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spears Creek
    • Tickle Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Tickle Hill is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tickle Hill

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<2> community of State Farm once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in State Farm and extending to:

  • Sumter, which is the Seat of Sumter County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<3> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from State Farm to Sumter, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 385 miles [619.6 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 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,259 miles [10,072.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,952 miles [11,188.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,834 miles [7,779.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 State Farm 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>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 State Farm, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- State Farm) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 State Farm 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 State Farm. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0968, Longitude: -80.5773       In this case, the coordinates for State Farm have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.064 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.209 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.732 degrees.