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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Paynesville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Paynesville 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 Paynesville:
    • 37.331501, -81.891509
    • 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 Paynesville
  • 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 Paynesville ...

We found seven communities that share the name Paynesville.

Within West Virginia, the name Paynesville is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Alpine County
      • This Paynesville is located in Alpine County and lies 2,047 miles [3,294.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Paynesville that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alpine County community of Paynesville.
    • Indiana
      • Jefferson County
      • This Paynesville is located in Jefferson County and lies 215 miles [346 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Paynesville that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Paynesville.
    • Michigan
      • Ontonagon County
      • This Paynesville is located in Ontonagon County and lies 734 miles [1,181.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Paynesville that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontonagon County community of Paynesville.
    • Minnesota
      • Stearns County
      • This Paynesville is located in Stearns County and lies 864 miles [1,390.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Paynesville that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stearns County community of Paynesville.
    • Missouri
      • Pike County
      • This Paynesville is located in Pike County and lies 505 miles [812.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Paynesville that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Paynesville.
    • New York
      • Allegany County
      • This Paynesville is located in Allegany County and lies 388 miles [624.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Paynesville that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegany County community of Paynesville.
    • Wisconsin
      • Milwaukee 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 Wisconsin community of Paynesville [Milwaukee County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Paynesville ...

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.

  • Beartown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beartown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
    • Beartown is located in McDowell County
  • Dan
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dan
    • Dan is located in McDowell County
  • Dwight
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dwight have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
    • Dwight is located in Buchanan County (VA)
  • Height
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Height. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Height
    • Height is located in Buchanan County (VA)
  • Jewell Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jewell Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell Valley
    • Jewell Valley is located in Buchanan County (VA)
  • Peapatch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peapatch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peapatch
    • Peapatch is located in Buchanan County (VA)
  • Rockridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockridge
    • Rockridge is located in McDowell County
  • Slate
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slate have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate
    • Slate is located in Buchanan County (VA)
  • Stacy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stacy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy
    • Stacy is located in Buchanan County (VA)

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

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

  • Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Paynesville to Welch, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 71 miles [114.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 285 miles [458.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,170 miles [9,929.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,880 miles [11,072.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,756 miles [7,654 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Paynesville. 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Paynesville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Paynesville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3315, Longitude: -81.8915       In this case, the coordinates for Paynesville 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 Paynesville 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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Paynesville 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 310.832 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.558 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.294 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024