RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Chesterfield County >> Archer Bluff >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Archer Bluff, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Archer Bluff 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 Archer Bluff:
    • 37.260705, -77.382204
    • 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 Archer Bluff
  • 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 Chesterfield County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield County
    • Since Archer Bluff is near Colonial Heights City and also Petersburg City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colonial Heights City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Petersburg City
  • 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 Archer Bluff

Curious and Interesting Names Near Archer Bluff ...

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.

  • Cedar Level
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Level is located in Hopewell City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Level
  • College Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • College Park is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Field Crossing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Field Crossing is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Field Crossing
  • Five Forks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Five Forks is located in Hopewell City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Friend ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Friend is located in Prince George County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friend
  • Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Heights is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heights
  • Lakeview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Lakeview is located in Colonial Heights City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Mistwood Forest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Mistwood Forest is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistwood Forest
  • Pine Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Pine Gardens is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Gardens
  • Pocahontas
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Pocahontas is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
  • Ramblewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Ramblewood is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramblewood
  • River View Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • River View Park is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View Park
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Robertson Place
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Robertson Place is located in Chesterfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertson Place
    • Trojan Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Trojan Woods is located in Chesterfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trojan Woods
    • Walnut Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Petersburg City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Woodlawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Woodlawn is located in Colonial Heights City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

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

  • Chesterfield, which is the Seat of Chesterfield County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Archer Bluff to Chesterfield, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 19 miles [30.6 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 114 miles [183.5 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,982 miles [9,627.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,680 miles [10,750.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,560 miles [7,338.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Archer Bluff) 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 Archer Bluff 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 Archer Bluff. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2607, Longitude: -77.3822       In this case, the coordinates for Archer Bluff have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.18 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.52 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.467 degrees.