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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Berkshire, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Berkshire 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 Berkshire:
    • 38.897889, -77.151369
    • 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 Berkshire
  • 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 Arlington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington County
    • Since Berkshire is near Fairfax County and also Falls Church City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church 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 Berkshire

Communities Also Named Berkshire ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Berkshire.

Within Virginia, the name Berkshire is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Fairfield County
      • This Berkshire is located in Fairfield County and lies 268 miles [431.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfield County community of Berkshire.
    • Georgia
      • Gwinnett County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Berkshire [Gwinnett County].
    • Kentucky
      • Boone County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Berkshire [Boone County].
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Berkshire is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the east of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Berkshire.
      • Prince George's County
      • This Berkshire is located in Prince George's County and lies 14 miles [22.5 km] to the east southeast of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince George's County community of Berkshire.
    • Massachusetts
      • Berkshire County
      • This Berkshire is located in Berkshire County and lies 324 miles [521.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkshire County community of Berkshire.
    • Michigan
      • Sanilac County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Berkshire [Sanilac County].
    • New York
      • Fulton County
      • This Berkshire is located in Fulton County and lies 322 miles [518.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Berkshire.
      • Tioga County
      • This Berkshire is located in Tioga County and lies 240 miles [386.2 km] to the north of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tioga County community of Berkshire.
    • Ohio
      • Delaware County
      • This Berkshire is located in Delaware County and lies 320 miles [515 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Berkshire.
    • Vermont
      • Franklin County
      • This Berkshire is located in Franklin County and lies 475 miles [764.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Berkshire that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Berkshire.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Berkshire ...

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.

  • Cherrydale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cherrydale is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrydale
  • Crescent Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Dominion Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Dominion Heights is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Heights
  • Dominion Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Dover
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Dover is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
  • Falls Church
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Falls Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Falls Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Hill
  • Foxhall
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Foxhall is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhall
  • Garden City
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Garden City is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Greenway Downs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
  • Halls Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Halls Hill is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
  • Kent Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Lacey Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Lacey Forest is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Forest
    • Lee Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Lee Heights is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Heights
    • Poplar Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Poplar Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Heights
    • Ravenwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Riverwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Riverwood is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Seven Corners
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Virginia Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest

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

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

  • Arlington, which is the Seat of Arlington County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Berkshire to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is just to the east (E).
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,902 miles [9,498.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,608 miles [10,634.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,484 miles [7,216.3 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 from Point A (ie- Berkshire) 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 Berkshire, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Berkshire 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.
<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 Berkshire 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 Berkshire. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8979, Longitude: -77.1514       In this case, the coordinates for Berkshire have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.957 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.516 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.762 degrees.