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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bloom, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bloom 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 Bloom:
    • 39.147049, -78.373339
    • 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 Bloom
  • 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Since Bloom is near Hampshire County and also Shenandoah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampshire County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shenandoah 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 Bloom

Communities Also Named Bloom ...

We found nine communities that are also named Bloom.

Within Virginia, the name Bloom is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Otero County
      • This Bloom is located in Otero County and lies 1,383 miles [2,225.7 km]<1> to the west of the Bloom that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otero County community of Bloom.
    • Illinois
      • Cook 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 Illinois community of Bloom [Cook County].
    • Kansas
      • Ford County
      • This Bloom is located in Ford County and lies 1,169 miles [1,881.3 km]<1> to the west of the Bloom that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ford County community of Bloom.
    • Kentucky
      • Graves 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 Kentucky community of Bloom [Graves County].
    • Manitoba
      • 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 Manitoba community of Bloom.
    • Maryland
      • Carroll County
      • This Bloom is located in Carroll County and lies 75 miles [120.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bloom that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Bloom.
    • North Dakota
      • Stutsman County
      • This Bloom is located in Stutsman County and lies 1,149 miles [1,849.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Bloom that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stutsman County community of Bloom.
    • Ohio
      • Scioto 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 Ohio community of Bloom [Scioto County].
    • Utah
      • Millard County
      • This Bloom is located in Millard County and lies 1,835 miles [2,953.1 km]<1> to the west of the Bloom that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Millard County community of Bloom.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bloom ...

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.

  • Fawcett Gap
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fawcett Gap is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawcett Gap
  • Gravel Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Gravel Springs is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Springs
  • High View
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Hunters Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hunters Valley is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Valley
  • Mount Hope
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Hope is located in Shenandoah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Mount Pleasant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Mount Williams
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Mount Williams is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Williams
  • Mountain Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain Falls is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Falls
  • Poplar Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Poplar Ridge is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Ridge
  • Wheatfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Wheatfield is located in Shenandoah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatfield

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Bloom once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Bloom and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 121 miles [194.7 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Bloom to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 73 miles [117.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,943 miles [9,564.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,652 miles [10,705.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,528 miles [7,287.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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- Bloom) 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 Bloom 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 Bloom, 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 Bloom 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 Bloom. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1470, Longitude: -78.3733       In this case, the coordinates for Bloom have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.669 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.363 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.187 degrees.