Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Birch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Birch and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Birch
- 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 Birch:
- 36.714859, -79.166962
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Birch
- 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 Halifax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Halifax County
- Since Birch is near Pittsylvania County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pittsylvania County
- eBird sighting report for Madison 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Birch ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Birch.
Within Virginia, the name Birch is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Anderson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Birch [Anderson County].
- Sedgwick 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 Kansas community of Birch [Sedgwick County].
- Michigan
- Baraga County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Birch [Baraga County].
- Marquette County
- This Birch is located in Marquette County and lies 813 miles [1,308.4 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Birch that is located in Halifax County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marquette County community of Birch.
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Northwest Territories
- This Birch lies 2,286 miles [3,679 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Birch that is located in Halifax County.
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Ashland County
- This Birch is located in Ashland County and lies 896 miles [1,442 km]<2> to the northwest of the Birch that is located in Halifax County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashland County community of Birch.
- Chippewa County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Birch [Chippewa County].
- Kansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Birch ...
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.
- Ebenezer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Elmo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Henrys Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Mill
- Henrys Mill is located in Pittsylvania County
- High Rock
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Jones
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones
- Jones is located in Halifax County
- Lucks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucks
- Lucks is located in Pittsylvania County
- Pickaway
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Plato
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Pleasant Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Halifax County
- Red Oak Hollow
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Oak Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak Hollow
- Red Oak Hollow is located in Pittsylvania County
- Sign Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sign Rock
- Sign Rock is located in Halifax County
- Spring Garden
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Spring Garden is located in Pittsylvania County
- Terrys Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terrys Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrys Corner
- Terrys Corner is located in Halifax County
How Far From Birch 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 Birch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Birch and extending to:
- Halifax, which is the Seat of Halifax County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Birch to Halifax, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 111 miles [178.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 190 miles [305.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,082 miles [9,788 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,783 miles [10,916.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,662 miles [7,502.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Birch. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Birch 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Birch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Birch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7149, Longitude: -79.1670 In this case, the coordinates for Birch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Birch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Birch to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.233 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.639 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.372 degrees. |