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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Compton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Compton 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 Compton:
    • 38.782616, -78.368894
    • 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 Compton
  • 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 Page County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Page County
    • Since Compton is near Warren County and also Shenandoah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Warren County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shenandoah 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 Compton

Communities Also Named Compton ...

We found twenty communities that are also named Compton.

Within Virginia, the name Compton is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of twenty communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twenty communities, nineteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Blount County
      • This Compton is located in Blount County and lies 572 miles [920.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blount County community of Compton.
    • Arkansas
      • Hempstead 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 Arkansas community of Compton [Hempstead County].
      • Newton County
      • This Compton is located in Newton County and lies 838 miles [1,348.6 km]<1> to the west of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Compton.
    • California
      • Los Angeles County
      • This Compton is located in Los Angeles County and lies 2,224 miles [3,579.2 km]<1> to the west of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Compton.
    • Georgia
      • Jasper County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Compton [Jasper County].
      • Stewart County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Compton [Stewart County].
    • Illinois
      • Lee County
      • This Compton is located in Lee County and lies 599 miles [964 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Compton.
    • Maryland
      • Charles County
      • This Compton is located in Charles County and lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles County community of Compton.
      • Saint Mary's County
      • This Compton is located in Saint Mary's County and lies 97 miles [156.1 km] to the east southeast of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Mary's County community of Compton.
    • Michigan
      • Osceola County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Compton [Osceola County].
    • Minnesota
      • Itasca County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Compton [Itasca County].
    • Missouri
      • Webster 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 Missouri community of Compton [Webster County].
    • Nebraska
      • Cherry County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Cherry County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherry County community of Compton.
    • New Hampshire
      • Grafton County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Hampshire community of Compton [Grafton County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Le Flore County
      • This Compton is located in Le Flore County and lies 959 miles [1,543.4 km]<1> to the west of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Le Flore County community of Compton.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Compton is located in Allegheny County and lies 146 miles [235 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Compton.
      • Somerset County
      • This Compton is located in Somerset County and lies 78 miles [125.5 km] to the north northwest of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Compton.
    • Quebec
      • This Compton lies 557 miles [896.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Compton that is located in Page County.
    • Tennessee
      • Rutherford County
      • This Compton is located in Rutherford County and lies 479 miles [770.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Compton that is located in Page County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Compton.
    • Texas
      • Rusk County
      • Although located in Rusk County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rusk County community of Compton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Compton ...

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.

  • Big Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Spring is located in Page County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
  • Burners Ford
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Burners Ford is located in Page County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burners Ford
  • Fourway
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fourway is located in Rappahannock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourway
  • Glen Echo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Echo is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Echo
  • Kings Crossing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Kings Crossing is located in Shenandoah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Crossing
  • Overall
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Overall is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overall
  • Panorama
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Panorama is located in Rappahannock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama
  • Seven Fountains
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Seven Fountains is located in Shenandoah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Fountains
  • Spring View
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Spring View is located in Page County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring View
  • Willow Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Willow Grove is located in Shenandoah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Grove
  • Woodland Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodland Park is located in Page County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

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

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

  • Luray, which is the Seat of Page County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Compton to Luray, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 72 miles [115.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,959 miles [9,590.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,666 miles [10,727.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,543 miles [7,311.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Compton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Compton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Compton 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.
<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 Compton 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 Compton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7826, Longitude: -78.3689       In this case, the coordinates for Compton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.685 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.326 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.319 degrees.