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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Colony, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Colony 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 Colony:
    • 37.414309, -79.117801
    • 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 Colony
  • 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 Amherst County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amherst County
    • Since Colony is near Lynchburg City and also Campbell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lynchburg City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Campbell 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 Colony

Communities Also Named Colony ...

We found twenty communities that are also named Colony.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named Colony.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • James City County
      • This Colony is located in James City County and lies 130 miles [209.2 km]<1> to the east of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the James City County community of Colony.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cullman County
      • This Colony is located in Cullman County and lies 497 miles [799.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cullman County community of Colony.
      • Talladega County
      • This Colony is located in Talladega County and lies 478 miles [769.3 km] to the west southwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Talladega County community of Colony.
      • Tuscaloosa 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 Alabama community of Colony [Tuscaloosa County].
    • Georgia
      • Baldwin County
      • This Colony is located in Baldwin County and lies 382 miles [614.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baldwin County community of Colony.
    • Kansas
      • Anderson County
      • This Colony is located in Anderson County and lies 887 miles [1,427.5 km]<1> to the west of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Colony.
      • Norton 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 Kansas community of Colony [Norton County].
    • Kentucky
      • Fayette County
      • This Colony is located in Fayette County and lies 300 miles [482.8 km]<1> to the west of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Colony.
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Colony is located in Baltimore County and lies 193 miles [310.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Colony.
      • Montgomery County
      • This Colony is located in Montgomery County and lies 157 miles [252.7 km] to the northeast of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Colony.
    • Missouri
      • Knox County
      • This Colony is located in Knox County and lies 718 miles [1,155.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Colony.
    • Nevada
      • Lyon County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Lyon County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyon County community of Colony.
    • Oklahoma
      • Washita County
      • This Colony is located in Washita County and lies 1,094 miles [1,760.6 km]<1> to the west of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washita County community of Colony.
    • South Carolina
      • Aiken County
      • This Colony is located in Aiken County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aiken County community of Colony.
    • Texas
      • Blanco County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Blanco County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blanco County community of Colony.
      • Denton County
      • This Colony is located in Denton County and lies 1,044 miles [1,680.2 km]<1> to the west of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Denton County community of Colony.
      • Fayette County
      • This Colony is located in Fayette County and lies 1,162 miles [1,870.1 km] to the west southwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Colony.
      • Rains County
      • This Colony is located in Rains County and lies 987 miles [1,588.4 km] to the west southwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rains County community of Colony.
    • Utah
      • Weber County
      • This Colony is located in Weber County and lies 1,764 miles [2,838.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weber County community of Colony.
    • Wyoming
      • Crook County
      • This Colony is located in Crook County and lies 1,393 miles [2,241.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Colony that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crook County community of Colony.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Colony ...

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.

  • Court House Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Court House Hill is located in Lynchburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Court House Hill
  • Daniels Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Daniels Hill is located in Lynchburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniels Hill
  • Diamond Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Diamond Hill is located in Lynchburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Hill
  • Federal Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Federal Hill is located in Lynchburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Hill
  • Lakeview
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Lakeview is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Lynchburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Merry Moor
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Merry Moor is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merry Moor
  • Sandy Bottom
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Sandy Bottom is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom

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

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

  • Amherst, which is the Seat of Amherst County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Colony to Amherst, with an average speed<5> 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 92 miles [148.1 km] to the east (E). 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 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 152 miles [244.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,050 miles [9,736.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,753 miles [10,867.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,631 miles [7,452.9 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Colony) 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 Colony 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 Colony, 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 Colony 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 Colony. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4143, Longitude: -79.1178       In this case, the coordinates for Colony have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.184 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.688 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.116 degrees.