RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Charlotte County >> Abell >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Abell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Abell and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Abell:
    • 37.071532, -78.850843
    • 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 Abell
  • 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 Charlotte County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlotte County
    • Since Abell is near Campbell County and also Halifax County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Campbell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Halifax 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 Abell

Communities Also Named Abell ...

We found two communities that are also named Abell.

Within Virginia, the name Abell is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Saint Mary's County
      • This Abell is located in Saint Mary's County and lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Abell that is located in Charlotte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Mary's County community of Abell.
    • Texas
      • Carson County
      • This Abell is located in Carson County and lies 1,261 miles [2,029.4 km]<1> to the west of the Abell that is located in Charlotte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carson County community of Abell.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Abell ...

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.

  • Aspen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Aspen is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspen
  • Fears Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Fears Corner is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fears Corner
  • Harrisburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Harrisburg is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Hat Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hat Creek is located in Campbell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hat Creek
  • Martins Store
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Martins Store is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Store
  • Patrick Henry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Patrick Henry is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patrick Henry
  • Rough Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rough Creek is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rough Creek
  • Sugar Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Sugar Hill is located in Campbell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill
  • Terryville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Terryville is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville

How Far From Abell 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 Abell 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<2> community of Abell once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Abell and extending to:

  • Charlotte Court House, which is the Seat of Charlotte County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Abell to Charlotte Court House, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 160 miles [257.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,053 miles [9,741.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,755 miles [10,871.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,633 miles [7,456.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Abell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Abell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 Abell 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 Abell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0715, Longitude: -78.8508       In this case, the coordinates for Abell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.039 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.471 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.124 degrees.