Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Despard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Despard and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Despard
- 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 Despard:
- 39.288701, -80.305922
- 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 Despard
- 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 Harrison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Harrison County
- Since Despard is near Taylor County and also Barbour County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Taylor County
- eBird sighting report for Barbour 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Despard ...
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.
- Chestnut Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
- Chestnut Hills is located in Harrison County
- Erie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Glen Falls
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Falls
- Glen Falls is located in Harrison County
- Gore
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gore
- Gore is located in Harrison County
- Industrial
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Industrial have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial
- Industrial is located in Harrison County
- Liberty
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Lodgeville
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lodgeville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodgeville
- Lodgeville is located in Harrison County
- Meadowbrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Meadowbrook is located in Harrison County
- Nutter Fort
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nutter Fort have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutter Fort
- Nutter Fort is located in Harrison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,501 people
- Oral Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Quiet Dell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Dell
- Quiet Dell is located in Harrison County
- Summit Park
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Park
- Summit Park is located in Harrison County
How Far From Despard 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 Despard to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Despard and extending to:
- Clarksburg, which is the Seat of Harrison County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Despard to Charleston, with an average speed<3>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 three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 177 miles [284.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,017 miles [9,683.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,731 miles [10,832.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,607 miles [7,414.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Despard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Harrison County: www.harrisoncountywv.com/
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Despard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Despard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2887, Longitude: -80.3059 In this case, the coordinates for Despard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Despard to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.828 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.703 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.973 degrees. |