Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Virgil, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Virgil and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Virgil
- 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 Virgil:
- 38.613983, -81.340675
- 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 Virgil
- 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Roane County
- Since Virgil is near Kanawha County and also Clay County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kanawha County
- eBird sighting report for Clay 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 Virgil ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Virgil.
Within West Virginia, the name Virgil is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Fulton County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Virgil [Fulton County].
- Kane County
- This Virgil is located in Kane County and lies 443 miles [712.9 km]<3> to the northwest of the Virgil that is located in Roane County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kane County community of Virgil.
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Virgil lies 338 miles [544 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Virgil that is located in Roane County.
- South Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Virgil ...
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.
- Buffalolick ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalolick have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalolick
- Buffalolick is located in Roane County
- Cotton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Harley
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Looneyville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Looneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Looneyville
- Looneyville is located in Roane County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Looneyville <5>
- Mattie ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Mount Hope
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Roane County
- Mount Welcome
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Welcome have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Welcome
- Mount Welcome is located in Roane County
- Pad ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Rushville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Shad ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Stringtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Roane County
How Far From Virgil 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 Virgil 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 community of Virgil once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Virgil and extending to:
- Spencer, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Virgil to Spencer, 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 24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 232 miles [373.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,089 miles [9,799.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,804 miles [10,950 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,679 miles [7,530.1 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> | 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 Virgil 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 Virgil, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Virgil) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Virgil. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6140, Longitude: -81.3407 In this case, the coordinates for Virgil 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 Virgil 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 310.478 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.343 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.652 degrees. |