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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Etta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Etta 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 Etta:
    • 38.142909, -77.173310
    • 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 Etta
  • 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 Caroline County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Caroline County
    • Since Etta is near King George County and also Essex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King George County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Essex 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 Etta

Communities Also Named Etta ...

We found eight communities that are also named Etta.

Within Virginia, the name Etta is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Hot Spring 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 Arkansas community of Etta [Hot Spring County].
    • California
      • Sierra 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 California community of Etta [Sierra County].
    • Georgia
      • Paulding 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 Georgia community of Etta [Paulding County].
    • Mississippi
      • Union County
      • This Etta is located in Union County and lies 716 miles [1,152.3 km]<3> to the west southwest of the Etta that is located in Caroline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Etta.
    • Missouri
      • Boone 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 Missouri community of Etta [Boone County].
    • Oklahoma
      • 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 Oklahoma community of Etta [Cherokee County].
    • South Carolina
      • Cherokee 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 South Carolina community of Etta [Cherokee County].
    • South Dakota
      • Etta #
      • This community is historic<1> and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Etta.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Etta ...

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.

  • Cash Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cash Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Corner
  • Daniel Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Daniel Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniel Corner
  • Farmers Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Farmers Fork is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Fork
  • Goldmans Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Goldmans Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldmans Corner
  • Haymount
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Haymount is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymount
  • Hickory Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hickory Fork is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Fork
  • Hicks Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hicks Mill is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Mill
  • Iraville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Iraville is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iraville
  • Leesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Leesville is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
  • Lent
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lent is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lent
  • Liberty Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Liberty Fork is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Fork
  • Martins Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Martins Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Corner
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Office Hall
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Office Hall is located in King George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Office Hall
    • Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Park is located in King George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
    • Penny Corner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Penny Corner is located in Caroline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penny Corner
    • Samuels Corner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Samuels Corner is located in Caroline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samuels Corner
    • Welcome
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Welcome is located in King George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome

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

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

  • Bowling Green, which is the Seat of Caroline County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Etta to Bowling Green, with an average speed<4> 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 43 miles [69.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 52 miles [83.7 km] to the north (N). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,935 miles [9,551.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,637 miles [10,681.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,515 miles [7,266.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Etta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Etta 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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Etta) 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 Etta 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 Etta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1429, Longitude: -77.1733       In this case, the coordinates for Etta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.014 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.465 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.058 degrees.