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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Buck, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Buck 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 Buck:
    • 36.804569, -80.930358
    • 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 Buck
  • 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 Carroll County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Since Buck is near Wythe County and also Grayson 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 Grayson 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 Buck

Communities Also Named Buck ...

We found five communities that are also named Buck.

Within Virginia, the name Buck is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Knott 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 Kentucky community of Buck [Knott County].
    • North Carolina
      • Wilkes County
      • This Buck is located in Wilkes County and lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Buck that is located in Carroll County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilkes County community of Buck.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster County
      • This Buck is located in Lancaster County and lies 331 miles [532.7 km]<2> to the northeast of the Buck that is located in Carroll County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Buck.
    • Texas
      • Polk County
      • Although located in Polk County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Buck.
    • West Virginia
      • Summers County
      • This Buck is located in Summers County and lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<2> to the north of the Buck that is located in Carroll County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summers County community of Buck.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Buck ...

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.

  • Bethany
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bethany is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
  • Flatwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Flatwood is located in Wythe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
  • Fowler Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Fowler Ferry is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Ferry
  • Fries Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fries Junction is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fries Junction
  • Galena
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Galena is located in Wythe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
  • Hebron
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hebron is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Hilltown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hilltown is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltown
  • Ivanhoe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Grove is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Pierce Mill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pierce Mill is located in Wythe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce Mill
  • Porters Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Porters Crossroads is located in Wythe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters Crossroads
  • Raketown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Raketown is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raketown
  • Sheep Town
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
  • Shorts Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek

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

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

  • Hillsville, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Buck to Hillsville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 198 miles [318.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 256 miles [412 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 6,153 miles [9,902.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,859 miles [11,038.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,736 miles [7,621.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Buck 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- Buck) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Buck 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 Buck. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8046, Longitude: -80.9304       In this case, the coordinates for Buck have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.265 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.832 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.058 degrees.