Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Flat Top, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Flat Top and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Flat Top
- 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 Flat Top:
- 37.589562, -81.106761
- 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 Flat Top
- 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 Mercer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- Since Flat Top is near Raleigh County and also Summers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
- eBird sighting report for Summers 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 Flat Top ...
We found nine communities that share the name Flat Top.
Within West Virginia, the name Flat Top is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Bibb County
- This Flat Top is located in Bibb County and lies 456 miles [733.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Flat Top that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bibb County community of Flat Top.
- Jefferson County
- This Flat Top is located in Jefferson County and lies 428 miles [688.8 km] to the southwest of the Flat Top that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Flat Top.
- Colorado
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Dickenson County
- This Flat Top is located in Dickenson County and lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Flat Top that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickenson County community of Flat Top.
- Tazewell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Flat Top [Tazewell County].
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Flat Top ...
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.
- Cherry Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Cherry Creek is located in Raleigh County
- Cool Ridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cool Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Ridge
- Cool Ridge is located in Raleigh County
- Dunns
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Jonben
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Josephine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Lego
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Lilly ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Lillybrook
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lillybrook have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillybrook
- Lillybrook is located in Raleigh County
- Odd
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Streeter
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Suck Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suck Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suck Creek
- Suck Creek is located in Summers County
How Far From Flat Top to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Flat Top to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Flat Top and extending to:
- Princeton, which is the Seat of Mercer County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Flat Top to Princeton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 59 miles [95 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 238 miles [383 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,126 miles [9,858.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,835 miles [10,999.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,711 miles [7,581.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Flat Top. 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Flat Top) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Flat Top. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5896, Longitude: -81.1068 In this case, the coordinates for Flat Top have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Flat Top, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Flat Top 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. |
| <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 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 Flat Top 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 310.358 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.055 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.883 degrees. |