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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Westhaven, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Westhaven 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 Westhaven:
    • 33.924324, -80.382581
    • 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 Westhaven
  • 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 Westhaven is near Clarendon County and also Lee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarendon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee 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 Westhaven

Communities Also Named Westhaven ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Westhaven.

There is one other community in South Carolina that is also named Westhaven.

Beyond South Carolina, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In South Carolina ...
    • Spartanburg County
      • This Westhaven is located in Spartanburg County and lies 116 miles [186.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Westhaven.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Fresno County
      • This Westhaven is located in Fresno County and lies 2,228 miles [3,585.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fresno County community of Westhaven.
      • Humboldt County
      • This Westhaven is located in Humboldt County and lies 2,419 miles [3,893 km] to the west northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humboldt County community of Westhaven.
    • Colorado
      • Jefferson County
      • This Westhaven is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,419 miles [2,283.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Westhaven.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Westhaven [Cook County].
    • North Carolina
      • Harnett County
      • This Westhaven is located in Harnett County and lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harnett County community of Westhaven.
      • Pitt County
      • This Westhaven is located in Pitt County and lies 203 miles [326.7 km] to the northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pitt County community of Westhaven.
    • Ohio
      • Lucas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Westhaven [Lucas County].
    • Texas
      • Comal County
      • This Westhaven is located in Comal County and lies 1,084 miles [1,744.5 km]<1> to the west of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Comal County community of Westhaven.
    • Virginia
      • Portsmouth City
      • This Westhaven is located in Portsmouth City and lies 302 miles [486 km]<1> to the northeast of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portsmouth City community of Westhaven.
    • Washington
      • Grays Harbor County
      • This Westhaven is located in Grays Harbor County and lies 2,430 miles [3,910.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Westhaven that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grays Harbor County community of Westhaven.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westhaven ...

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.

  • Burns Down
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Burns Down is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns Down
  • Edgewater
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Edgewater is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Flowers Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Flowers Heights is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowers Heights
  • Hearthstone
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hearthstone is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hearthstone
  • Iris Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Iris Heights is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iris Heights
  • Kingman Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kingman Heights is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingman Heights
  • Mulberry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mulberry is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
  • Rainbow Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rainbow Falls is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Falls
  • Shady Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Shady Grove is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Summer View
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Summer View is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer View
  • Tiller Circle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tiller Circle is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiller Circle
  • Twin Lakes
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Twin Lakes is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
  • Walnut Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Walnut Hills is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hills
  • Winter Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Winter Park is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Park

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

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

  • Sumter, which is the Seat of Sumter County, lies just to the East.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Westhaven to Columbia, with an average speed<3> 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 390 miles [627.6 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 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 6,258 miles [10,071.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,949 miles [11,183.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,832 miles [7,776.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Westhaven) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Westhaven 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.
<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 Westhaven 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 Westhaven. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9243, Longitude: -80.3826       In this case, the coordinates for Westhaven have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.953 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.056 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.709 degrees.