Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Oswald, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oswald and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Oswald
- 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 Oswald:
- 37.860391, -81.172323
- 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 Oswald
- 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 Raleigh County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
- Since Oswald is near Fayette County and also Summers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette 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 Oswald ...
We found five communities that share the name Oswald.
Within West Virginia, the name Oswald is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Manitoba
- This Oswald lies 1,173 miles [1,887.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Oswald that is located in Raleigh County.
- Missouri
- North Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oswald ...
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.
- Cranberry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Dry Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Glen Jean
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Jean have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Jean
- Glen Jean is located in Fayette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glen Jean <4>
- Lee
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Maple Fork
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Fork
- Maple Fork is located in Raleigh County
- Mount Hope
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,259 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Hope <4>
- Packs Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Packs Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Branch
- Packs Branch is located in Fayette County
- Piney View
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piney View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
- Piney View is located in Raleigh County
- Price Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Price Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Hill
- Price Hill is located in Raleigh County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Prosperity
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
- Prosperity is located in Raleigh County
- Stonewall ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Sun
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Terry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Terry Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terry Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry Junction
- Terry Junction is located in Raleigh County
- Turkey Knob
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Knob
- Turkey Knob is located in Fayette County
- Prosperity
How Far From Oswald 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 Oswald 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<5> community of Oswald once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Oswald and extending to:
- Beckley, which is the Seat of Raleigh County, lies just to the South.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 41 miles [66 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Oswald to Charleston, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full 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 235 miles [378.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,116 miles [9,842.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,827 miles [10,987 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,703 miles [7,568.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oswald) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oswald. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8604, Longitude: -81.1723 In this case, the coordinates for Oswald have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Oswald 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Oswald, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Oswald 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 310.393 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.134 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.824 degrees. |