Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Varennes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Varennes and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Varennes
- 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 Varennes:
- 34.437607, -82.609576
- 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 Varennes
- 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 Anderson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Anderson County
- Since Varennes is near Abbeville County and also Hart County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Abbeville County
- eBird sighting report for Hart 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 Varennes ...
We found one communities that share the name Varennes.
Within South Carolina, the name Varennes is unique.
Beyond South Carolina, there is another community also named Varennes in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Varennes ...
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.
- Cherokee Farms
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Farms
- Cherokee Farms is located in Anderson County
- Clover Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clover Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Hill
- Clover Hill is located in Anderson County
- Cloverdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Anderson County
- Flat Rock
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Green Acres
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Green Acres is located in Anderson County
- Heritage Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heritage Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
- Heritage Hills is located in Anderson County
- Homeland Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homeland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeland Park
- Homeland Park is located in Anderson County
- Indian Trail
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Trail have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trail
- Indian Trail is located in Anderson County
- Lyonswood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Meadow Brook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook
- Meadow Brook is located in Anderson County
- Meadow Fields
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Fields have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Fields
- Meadow Fields is located in Anderson County
- Meadow Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Park
- Meadow Park is located in Anderson County
- Mountain Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Creek
- Mountain Creek is located in Anderson County
- Storeville ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Storeville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storeville
- Storeville is located in Anderson County
How Far From Varennes 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 Varennes 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<3> community of Varennes once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Varennes and extending to:
- Anderson, which is the Seat of Anderson County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<4> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Varennes to Columbia, with an average speed<5>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 435 miles [700.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 25 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,032 miles [11,316.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,911 miles [7,903.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Anderson County: www.andersoncountysc.org/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Varennes 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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Varennes, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Varennes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Varennes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4376, Longitude: -82.6096 In this case, the coordinates for Varennes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Varennes 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 311.236 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.604 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.416 degrees. |