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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bland 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 Bland:
- 37.102149, -81.116288
- 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 Bland
- 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 Bland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bland County
- Since Bland is near Wythe County and also Tazewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Wythe County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tazewell 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 Bland
Communities Also Named Bland ...
We found twelve communities that are also named Bland.
Within Virginia, the name Bland is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Benton County
- This Bland is located in Benton County and lies 710 miles [1,142.6 km]<1> to the west of the Bland that is located in Bland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Bland.
- Saline County
- This Bland is located in Saline County and lies 667 miles [1,073.4 km] to the west of the Bland that is located in Bland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saline County community of Bland.
- Colorado
- Elbert 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 Colorado community of Bland [Elbert County].
- Florida
- Alachua County
- This Bland is located in Alachua County and lies 503 miles [809.5 km]<1> to the south of the Bland that is located in Bland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alachua County community of Bland.
- Georgia
- Bulloch 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 Georgia community of Bland [Bulloch County].
- Kansas
- Bourbon County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Bourbon County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bourbon County community of Bland.
- Reno County
- This community is historic and although located in Reno County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reno County community of Bland.
- Missouri
- Gasconade County
- This Bland is located in Gasconade County and lies 580 miles [933.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bland that is located in Bland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gasconade County community of Bland.
- New Mexico
- Sandoval 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 New Mexico community of Bland [Sandoval County].
- North Carolina
- Sampson 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 North Carolina community of Bland [Sampson County].
- Texas
- Bell County
- This Bland is located in Bell County and lies 1,019 miles [1,639.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Bland that is located in Bland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bell County community of Bland.
- Orange County
- This Bland is located in Orange County and lies 872 miles [1,403.3 km] to the west southwest of the Bland that is located in Bland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Bland.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bland ...
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.
- Cove Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cove Creek is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Creek
- Eagle Oak
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Eagle Oak is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Oak
- Grapefield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Grapefield is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapefield
- Hicksville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Holly Brook
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Holly Brook is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Brook
- Kent
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mechanicsburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Point Pleasant
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Point Pleasant is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
- Pumpkin Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Pumpkin Center is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Rocky Gap
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Round Bottom
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Stones Mill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Stones Mill is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stones Mill
- Stringtown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Stringtown is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Suiter
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Suiter is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suiter
How Far From Bland 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 Bland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bland and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 204 miles [328.3 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Bland to Richmond, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 254 miles [408.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,148 miles [9,894.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,855 miles [11,032.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,732 miles [7,615.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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- Bland) 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 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 Bland 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 Bland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Bland 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 Bland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1021, Longitude: -81.1163 |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.371 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.998 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.042 degrees. |
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