RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Hanover County >> The Colonies >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Colonies, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Colonies 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 The Colonies:
    • 37.679865, -77.289145
    • 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 The Colonies
  • 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 Hanover County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hanover County
    • Since The Colonies is near King William County and also Henrico County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King William County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henrico 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 The Colonies

Communities Also Named The Colonies ...

We found one communities that are also named The Colonies.

Within Virginia, the name The Colonies is unique.

Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named The Colonies in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Tennessee
      • Hamblen County
      • This The Colonies is located in Hamblen County and lies 345 miles [555.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the The Colonies that is located in Hanover County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamblen County community of The Colonies.

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Colonies ...

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.

  • Buckeye
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Buckeye is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Cherrydale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherrydale is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrydale
  • Dogwood Knoll
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dogwood Knoll is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood Knoll
  • Georgetown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Georgetown is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Greenway
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Greenway is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
  • Hilly Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilly Farms is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilly Farms
  • Hughes Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hughes Corner is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes Corner
  • Kirbytown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Kirbytown is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirbytown
  • Locust Green
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Locust Green is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Green
  • Mimosa Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Mimosa Hills is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mimosa Hills
  • Orchard Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Orchard Gardens is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Gardens
  • Pebblebrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pebblebrook is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebblebrook
  • Raven Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Raven Run is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Run
  • Robin Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Robin Ridge is located in Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robin Ridge

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

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

  • Hanover, which is the Seat of Hanover County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from The Colonies to Richmond, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 85 miles [136.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,960 miles [9,591.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,660 miles [10,718.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,539 miles [7,304.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- The Colonies) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 The Colonies 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 The Colonies. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6799, Longitude: -77.2891       In this case, the coordinates for The Colonies have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.106 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.499 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.277 degrees.