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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cornwall, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cornwall 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 Cornwall:
    • 37.804577, -79.318646
    • 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 Cornwall
  • 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 Rockbridge County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockbridge County
    • Since Cornwall is near Buena Vista City and also Amherst County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buena Vista City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amherst 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 Cornwall

Communities Also Named Cornwall ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Cornwall.

Within Virginia, the name Cornwall is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of fourteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cherokee County
      • This Cornwall is located in Cherokee County and lies 428 miles [688.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Cornwall.
    • California
      • Contra Costa County
      • This Cornwall is located in Contra Costa County and lies 2,297 miles [3,696.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Contra Costa County community of Cornwall.
    • Connecticut
      • Litchfield County
      • This Cornwall is located in Litchfield County and lies 422 miles [679.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Litchfield County community of Cornwall.
    • Idaho
      • Latah County
      • This Cornwall is located in Latah County and lies 1,993 miles [3,207.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Latah County community of Cornwall.
      • Shoshone County
      • This Cornwall is located in Shoshone County and lies 1,950 miles [3,138.2 km] to the west northwest of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shoshone County community of Cornwall.
    • Kansas
      • Cherokee 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 Cornwall [Cherokee County].
    • Missouri
      • Madison County
      • This Cornwall is located in Madison County and lies 594 miles [956 km]<1> to the west of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Cornwall.
    • New York
      • Orange 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 New York community of Cornwall [Orange County].
    • North Carolina
      • Granville County
      • This Cornwall is located in Granville County and lies 98 miles [157.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Granville County community of Cornwall.
    • Ontario
      • This Cornwall lies 551 miles [886.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lebanon County
      • This Cornwall is located in Lebanon County and lies 231 miles [371.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lebanon County community of Cornwall.
    • Prince Edward Island
      • This Cornwall lies 1,007 miles [1,620.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
    • Vermont
      • Addison County
      • This Cornwall is located in Addison County and lies 531 miles [854.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Cornwall that is located in Rockbridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Addison County community of Cornwall.
    • Washington
      • Whatcom 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 Washington community of Cornwall [Whatcom County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cornwall ...

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 Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Crossroads Store
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Crossroads Store is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads Store
  • Fredericksburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fredericksburg is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredericksburg
  • Irish Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Irish Creek is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Creek
  • Jonestown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jonestown is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
  • Mechanicsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Mountain View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain View is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Mudtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Mudtown is located in Lexington City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mudtown
  • Timber Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Timber Ridge is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
  • Willow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Willow is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 104 miles [167.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Cornwall to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 144 miles [231.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,041 miles [9,722 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,747 miles [10,858.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,624 miles [7,441.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Cornwall) 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 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 Cornwall 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>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 Cornwall 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 Cornwall. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8046, Longitude: -79.3186       In this case, the coordinates for Cornwall have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.289 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.866 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.065 degrees.