RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> New Kent County >> Eltham >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Eltham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Eltham 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 Eltham:
    • 37.523756, -76.826074
    • 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 Eltham
  • 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 New Kent County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for New Kent County
    • Since Eltham is near King William County and also King and Queen 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 King and Queen 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 Eltham

Communities Also Named Eltham ...

We found one communities that are also named Eltham.

Within Virginia, the name Eltham is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Jackson County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Eltham [Jackson County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Eltham ...

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.

  • Holly Forks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Forks is located in New Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Forks
  • Kings Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Kings Corner is located in James City County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Corner
  • Little Plymouth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Little Plymouth is located in King and Queen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Plymouth
  • Plum Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Plum Point is located in New Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Point
  • Riverview Landing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Riverview Landing is located in King William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview Landing
  • Romancoke
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Romancoke is located in King William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romancoke
  • Shanghai
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Shanghai is located in King and Queen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai
  • Slaterville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Slaterville is located in New Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaterville
  • Snow Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Snow Hill is located in King and Queen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
  • Truhart
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Truhart is located in King and Queen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truhart

How Far From Eltham to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Eltham to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Eltham and extending to:

  • New Kent, which is the Seat of New Kent County, lies just to the West.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 33 miles [53.1 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Eltham to Richmond, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 95 miles [152.9 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 three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,947 miles [9,570.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,645 miles [10,694.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,524 miles [7,280.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Eltham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Eltham) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Eltham 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 Eltham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5238, Longitude: -76.8261       In this case, the coordinates for Eltham have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.847 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.18 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.148 degrees.