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 West:
36.273665, -86.895556
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.
We found thirteen communities that share the name West.
There is one other community in Tennessee which is also named West.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Located In Tennessee ...
Gibson County
This West is located in Gibson County and lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the West that is located in Davidson County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gibson County community of West.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Randolph County
This West is located in Randolph County and lies 224 miles [360.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the West that is located in Davidson County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of West.
Arkansas
Conway 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 Arkansas community of West [Conway County].
Kansas
Miami 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 Kansas community of West [Miami County].
Maryland
Somerset 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 Maryland community of West [Somerset County].
Mississippi
Holmes County
This West is located in Holmes County and lies 268 miles [431.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the West that is located in Davidson County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holmes County community of West.
Lauderdale 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 Mississippi community of West [Lauderdale County].
New Jersey
Essex 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 New Jersey community of West [Essex County].
New York
Cattaraugus 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 New York community of West [Cattaraugus County].
North Carolina
Columbus 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 North Carolina community of West [Columbus County].
Oregon
Clatsop County
This West is located in Clatsop County and lies 2,018 miles [3,247.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the West that is located in Davidson County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clatsop County community of West.
Texas
McLennan County
This West is located in McLennan County and lies 659 miles [1,060.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the West that is located in Davidson County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLennan County community of West.
West Virginia
Wetzel County
This West is located in Wetzel County and lies 412 miles [663 km]<1> to the northeast of the West that is located in Davidson County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wetzel County community of West.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West ...
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.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Marrowbone. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
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 West to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West and extending to:
Nashville, which is the Seat of Davidson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from West to Nashville, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast (SE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 568 miles [914.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,423 miles [10,336.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,143 miles [11,495.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,018 miles [8,075.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
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- West) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2737, Longitude: -86.8956 In this case, the coordinates for West 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 West, 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 West 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>
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.
<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 West 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 313.871 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.895 degrees.
<10>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.712 degrees.