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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brownton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brownton 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 Brownton:
    • 37.850142, -78.571679
    • 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 Brownton
  • 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 Brownton is near Buckingham County and also Fluvanna County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buckingham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fluvanna 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 Brownton

Communities Also Named Brownton ...

We found four communities that are also named Brownton.

Within Virginia, the name Brownton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Morgan County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Brownton [Morgan County].
    • Minnesota
      • McLeod County
      • This Brownton is located in McLeod County and lies 944 miles [1,519.2 km]<2> to the northwest of the Brownton that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLeod County community of Brownton.
    • Pennsylvania
      • York County
      • This Brownton is located in York County and lies 176 miles [283.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Brownton that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Brownton.
    • West Virginia
      • Barbour County
      • This Brownton is located in Barbour County and lies 127 miles [204.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the Brownton that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barbour County community of Brownton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brownton ...

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.

  • Arrowhead
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Arrowhead is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
  • Boiling Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Boiling Spring is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring
  • Bungletown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Bungletown is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bungletown
  • Covesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Covesville is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covesville
  • Hardware
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hardware is located in Fluvanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardware
  • Heards
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Heards is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heards
  • Howardsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Howardsville is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardsville
  • Kidds Store
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Kidds Store is located in Fluvanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kidds Store
  • Moses Crossing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Moses Crossing is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moses Crossing
  • Porters
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Porters is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters
  • Rockfish
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Rockfish is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockfish
  • Stony Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stony Point is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point

How Far From Brownton 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 Brownton 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 Brownton once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Brownton and extending to:

  • Charlottesville, which is the Seat of Albemarle County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Brownton to Charlottesville, with an average speed<3> 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 65 miles [104.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 110 miles [177 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,007 miles [9,667.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,712 miles [10,801.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,589 miles [7,385.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Brownton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Brownton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Brownton 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 Brownton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8501, Longitude: -78.5717       In this case, the coordinates for Brownton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.847 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.369 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.74 degrees.