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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bellair, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bellair 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 Bellair:
    • 38.039305, -78.530847
    • 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 Bellair
  • 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 Albemarle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Albemarle County
    • Since Bellair is near Charlottesville City and also Chesterfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlottesville City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield 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 Bellair

Communities Also Named Bellair ...

We found seven communities that are also named Bellair.

Within Virginia, the name Bellair is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Hempstead County
      • This Bellair is located in Hempstead County and lies 897 miles [1,443.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Bellair that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hempstead County community of Bellair.
    • Florida
      • Clay County
      • This Bellair is located in Clay County and lies 573 miles [922.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Bellair that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Bellair.
      • Leon 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 Florida community of Bellair [Leon County].
    • Illinois
      • Crawford County
      • This Bellair is located in Crawford County and lies 513 miles [825.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bellair that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Bellair.
    • Iowa
      • Appanoose County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Bellair [Appanoose County].
    • Missouri
      • Cooper County
      • This Bellair is located in Cooper County and lies 775 miles [1,247.2 km]<1> to the west of the Bellair that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cooper County community of Bellair.
    • North Carolina
      • Craven County
      • This Bellair is located in Craven County and lies 213 miles [342.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Bellair that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Craven County community of Bellair.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bellair ...

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.

  • Barracks
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Barracks is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barracks
  • Branchland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Branchland is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchland
  • Chapel Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chapel Hills is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hills
  • Charlottesville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Fieldbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fieldbrook is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldbrook
  • Four Seasons
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Four Seasons is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Seasons
  • Franklin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Franklin is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Greenfields
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Greenfields is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfields
  • Hydraulic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hydraulic is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hydraulic
  • Ivy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Ivy Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ivy Farms is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Farms
  • Ivy Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ivy Oaks is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Oaks
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Ivy Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ivy Ridge is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Ridge
    • Liberty Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Liberty Hill is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
    • Locust Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Locust Grove is located in Charlottesville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
    • Pen Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Pen Park is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pen Park
    • Queen Charlotte
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Queen Charlotte is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Charlotte
    • Raintree
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Raintree is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
    • Riverrun
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Riverrun is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverrun
    • Rockbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Rockbrook is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockbrook
    • Squire Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Squire Hill is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squire Hill
    • University Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • University Heights is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
    • Village Square
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Village Square is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Square
    • Vinegar Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Vinegar Hill is located in Charlottesville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinegar Hill
    • Wildwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Wildwood is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Willow Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Willow Heights is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Heights

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

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

  • Charlottesville, which is the Seat of Albemarle County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Bellair to Richmond, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 100 miles [160.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,998 miles [9,652.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,703 miles [10,787.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,580 miles [7,370.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bellair) 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 Bellair 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>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 Bellair, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Bellair 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 Bellair. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0393, Longitude: -78.5308       In this case, the coordinates for Bellair have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.815 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.361 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.656 degrees.