RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Stafford County >> Charlestown Commons >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Charlestown Commons, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Charlestown Commons 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 Charlestown Commons:
    • 38.306900, -77.431200
    • 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 Charlestown Commons
  • 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 Stafford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stafford County
    • Since Charlestown Commons is near Fredericksburg City and also Spotsylvania County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fredericksburg City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Spotsylvania 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 Charlestown Commons

Curious and Interesting Names Near Charlestown Commons ...

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.

  • Cedar Bluff
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cedar Bluff is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
  • Clearview
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Clearview is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
  • Deacon Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Deacon Woods is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deacon Woods
  • Deer Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Deer Forest is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Forest
  • Fall Run Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Fall Run Park is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Run Park
  • Ferry Farm
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Ferry Farm is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Farm
  • Ferry Road
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Ferry Road is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Road
  • Fredericksburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Grandview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Grandview is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Hazel Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hazel Hill is located in Fredericksburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Hill
  • Heather Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Heather Hills is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Hills
  • High School Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • High School Heights is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High School Heights
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Hollyridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Hollyridge is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollyridge
    • Little Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Little Creek is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Creek
    • Little Falls
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Little Falls is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls
    • Little Falls Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Little Falls Village is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls Village
    • Misty Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Misty Forest is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Misty Forest
    • Part Little Falls
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Part Little Falls is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Part Little Falls
    • Ridge Pointe
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Ridge Pointe is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Pointe
    • Spring Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Stones Corner
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Stones Corner is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stones Corner
    • Walnut Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Will-More
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Will-More is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Will-More
    • Woodlawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Woodlawn is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Charlestown Commons to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Charlestown Commons to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Charlestown Commons and extending to:

  • Stafford, which is the Seat of Stafford County, lies just to the North.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Charlestown Commons to Richmond, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 46 miles [74 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,939 miles [9,557.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,643 miles [10,690.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,520 miles [7,274.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Charlestown Commons) 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 Charlestown Commons 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 Charlestown Commons. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3069, Longitude: -77.4312       In this case, the coordinates for Charlestown Commons have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.156 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.651 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.103 degrees.