RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Adams County >> Virginia Mills >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Virginia Mills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Virginia Mills 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 Virginia Mills:
    • 39.803383, -77.376956
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Virginia Mills
  • 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 Adams County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Since Virginia Mills is near Franklin County and also Frederick County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Virginia Mills

Curious and Interesting Names Near Virginia Mills ...

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.

  • Black Horse Tavern
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Black Horse Tavern is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Horse Tavern
  • Blackberry Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Blackberry Hills is located in Frederick County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry Hills
  • Cashtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cashtown is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashtown
  • Fairplay
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairplay is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplay
  • Fountain Dale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountain Dale is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Dale
  • Friends Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Friends Creek is located in Frederick County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friends Creek
  • Gladhill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gladhill is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladhill
  • Greenmount
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Hammer Hall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hammer Hall is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammer Hall
  • Hilltown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hilltown is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltown
  • Iron Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Iron Springs is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Springs
  • Jacks Mountain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Lost Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Lost Valley is located in Frederick County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Valley
    • Maria Furnace
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Maria Furnace is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maria Furnace
    • Marshall
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Marshall is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
    • Mount Hope
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Mount Hope is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
    • Seven Stars
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Seven Stars is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
    • Shanks Mill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Shanks Mill is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanks Mill
    • Tartown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Tartown is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tartown

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Virginia Mills and extending to:

  • Gettysburg, which is the Seat of Adams County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Virginia Mills to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2> 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 65 miles [104.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,873 miles [9,451.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,583 miles [10,594.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,459 miles [7,176.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Virginia Mills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Virginia Mills to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Virginia Mills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8034, Longitude: -77.3770       In this case, the coordinates for Virginia Mills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.032 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.741 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.507 degrees.