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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Commonwealth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Commonwealth 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 Commonwealth:
    • 38.074860, -78.487234
    • 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 Commonwealth
  • 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 Commonwealth is near Charlottesville City and also Chesterfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlottesville City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield 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 Commonwealth

Communities Also Named Commonwealth ...

We found four communities that are also named Commonwealth.

Within Virginia, the name Commonwealth is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Orange 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 California community of Commonwealth [Orange County].
    • Georgia
      • Muscogee County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Commonwealth [Muscogee County].
    • Kansas
      • Cherokee County
      • This Commonwealth is located in Cherokee County and lies 891 miles [1,433.9 km]<3> to the west of the Commonwealth that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Commonwealth.
    • Wisconsin
      • Florence County
      • This Commonwealth is located in Florence County and lies 736 miles [1,184.5 km]<3> to the northwest of the Commonwealth that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Florence County community of Commonwealth.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Commonwealth ...

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.

  • Barracks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Barracks is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barracks
  • Branchland
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Branchland is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchland
  • Chapel Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Chapel Hills is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hills
  • Clover Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Clover Hill is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Hill
  • Fieldbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fieldbrook is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldbrook
  • Four Seasons
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Four Seasons is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Seasons
  • Greenfields
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Greenfields is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfields
  • Hydraulic
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hydraulic is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hydraulic
  • Ivy Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ivy Farms is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Farms
  • Ivy Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Ivy Ridge is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Ridge
  • Little Clover Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Little Clover Hill is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Clover Hill
  • Locust Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Locust Grove is located in Charlottesville City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Pen Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pen Park is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pen Park
    • Queen Charlotte
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Queen Charlotte is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Charlotte
    • Raintree
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Raintree is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
    • Riverrun
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Riverrun is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverrun
    • Rockbrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockbrook is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockbrook
    • Squire Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Squire Hill is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squire Hill
    • Village Square
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Village Square is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Square
    • Wildwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Wildwood is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Willow Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Willow Heights is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Heights

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

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

  • Charlottesville, which is the Seat of Albemarle County, lies just to the South.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<3> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Commonwealth to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 96 miles [154.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,994 miles [9,646.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,699 miles [10,781 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,576 miles [7,364.4 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 Commonwealth 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>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 Commonwealth, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Commonwealth) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Commonwealth 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 Commonwealth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0749, Longitude: -78.4872       In this case, the coordinates for Commonwealth have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.788 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.336 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.625 degrees.