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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Beldor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Beldor 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 Beldor:
    • 38.350128, -78.607238
    • 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 Beldor
  • 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 Rockingham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockingham County
    • Since Beldor is near Greene County and also Albemarle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Albemarle 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 Beldor

Curious and Interesting Names Near Beldor ...

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.

  • Almond ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Almond is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
  • Furnace
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Furnace is located in Page County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace
  • Greenwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenwood is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Island Ford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Island Ford is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Ford
  • Lydia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Lydia is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
  • Rocky Bar
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Rocky Bar is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Bar
  • Sandy Bottom
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Sandy Bottom is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom
  • Shady Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Shady Grove is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Swift Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Swift Run is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Run
  • Williams Fork
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Williams Fork is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Fork

How Far From Beldor to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Beldor to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Harrisonburg, which is the Seat of Rockingham County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Beldor to Harrisonburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the southeast (SE). 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 92 miles [148.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,987 miles [9,635.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,694 miles [10,772.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,570 miles [7,354.7 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Beldor) 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 Beldor 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 Beldor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3501, Longitude: -78.6072       In this case, the coordinates for Beldor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.847 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.444 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.577 degrees.