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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Acorn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Acorn 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 Acorn:
    • 38.019298, -76.649123
    • 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 Acorn
  • 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 Westmoreland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Since Acorn is near Northumberland County and also Richmond County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Northumberland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richmond 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 Acorn

Communities Also Named Acorn ...

We found ten communities that are also named Acorn.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named Acorn.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • Halifax County
      • This Acorn is located in Halifax County and lies 147 miles [236.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Acorn that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Halifax County community of Acorn.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Polk County
      • This Acorn is located in Polk County and lies 1,002 miles [1,612.6 km]<1> to the west of the Acorn that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Acorn.
    • California
      • Humboldt 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 California community of Acorn [Humboldt County].
      • Santa Barbara County
      • This Acorn is located in Santa Barbara County and lies 2,427 miles [3,905.9 km]<1> to the west of the Acorn that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Barbara County community of Acorn.
    • Georgia
      • Habersham 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 Georgia community of Acorn [Habersham County].
      • Muscogee County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Acorn [Muscogee County].
    • Kentucky
      • Pulaski County
      • This Acorn is located in Pulaski County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the west of the Acorn that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Acorn.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Montgomery County
      • This Acorn is located in Montgomery County and lies 166 miles [267.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Acorn that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Acorn.
    • Tennessee
      • Monroe County
      • This Acorn is located in Monroe County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Acorn that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Acorn.
    • Wisconsin
      • Dane 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 Acorn [Dane County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Acorn ...

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.

  • Bull Neck
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Bull Neck is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Neck
  • Carys Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Carys Corner is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carys Corner
  • Grays Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Grays Corner is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Corner
  • Hogans Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hogans Hill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogans Hill
  • Hyacinth
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hyacinth is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyacinth
  • Rich Neck
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rich Neck is located in Richmond County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Neck
  • Shady Harbor Shores
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Shady Harbor Shores is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Harbor Shores
  • Slash
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Slash is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slash
  • Threeway
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Threeway is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Threeway
  • Tucker Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Tucker Hill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Hill

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

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

  • Montross, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Acorn to Montross, 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 54 miles [86.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 64 miles [103 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,918 miles [9,524.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,618 miles [10,650.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,497 miles [7,237.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Acorn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Acorn 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>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 Acorn 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 Acorn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0193, Longitude: -76.6491       In this case, the coordinates for Acorn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.717 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.107 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.89 degrees.