Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bower, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bower and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bower
- 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 Bower:
- 38.858428, -80.719821
- 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 Bower
- 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 Braxton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Braxton County
- Since Bower is near Gilmer County and also Lewis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gilmer County
- eBird sighting report for Lewis 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 Bower ...
We found four communities that share the name Bower.
Within West Virginia, the name Bower is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bower ...
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.
- Bonnie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Cedarville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Cedarville is located in Gilmer County
- Copen
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Cutlips
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Dusk
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Dutch
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Exchange
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exchange
- Exchange is located in Braxton County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Exchange <5>
- Flower
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Gem
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Hope ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Let ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Orlando
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orlando
- Orlando is located in Braxton County
- Sand Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Stouts Mills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stouts Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stouts Mills
- Stouts Mills is located in Gilmer County
How Far From Bower 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 Bower to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bower and extending to:
- Sutton, which is the Seat of Braxton County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Bower to Sutton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 197 miles [317 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,053 miles [9,741.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,767 miles [10,890.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,642 miles [7,470.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bower. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.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 Bower 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 Bower, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bower) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bower. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8584, Longitude: -80.7198 In this case, the coordinates for Bower have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Bower to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.094 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.942 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.301 degrees. |