RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Alleghany County >> Falling Spring >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Falling Spring, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Falling Spring 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 Falling Spring:
    • 37.886514, -79.979502
    • 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 Falling Spring
  • 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 Alleghany County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alleghany County
    • Since Falling Spring is near Bath County and also Covington City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bath County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Covington City
  • 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 Falling Spring

Communities Also Named Falling Spring ...

We found four communities that are also named Falling Spring.

Within Virginia, the name Falling Spring is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Falling Spring is located in Saint Clair County and lies 555 miles [893.2 km]<1> to the west of the Falling Spring that is located in Alleghany County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Falling Spring.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Franklin County
      • This Falling Spring is located in Franklin County and lies 189 miles [304.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Falling Spring that is located in Alleghany County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Falling Spring.
      • Perry County
      • This Falling Spring is located in Perry County and lies 225 miles [362.1 km] to the northeast of the Falling Spring that is located in Alleghany County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Falling Spring.
    • West Virginia
      • Greenbrier County
      • This Falling Spring is located in Greenbrier County and lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Falling Spring that is located in Alleghany County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenbrier County community of Falling Spring.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Falling Spring ...

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.

  • Fairlawn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Fairlawn is located in Covington City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Greenwood ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Greenwood is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Healing Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Healing Springs is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healing Springs
  • Jenkins Ford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jenkins Ford is located in Alleghany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Ford
  • Moss Run
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Moss Run is located in Alleghany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Run
  • Rich Patch Mines
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Rich Patch Mines is located in Alleghany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Patch Mines
  • Stonewall
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Stonewall is located in Alleghany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
  • Tinkertown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tinkertown is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tinkertown
  • Trainer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Trainer is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trainer

How Far From Falling Spring to ...

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 140 miles [225.3 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Falling Spring to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 173 miles [278.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,065 miles [9,760.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,773 miles [10,900.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,650 miles [7,483.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Falling Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Falling Spring 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 Falling Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8865, Longitude: -79.9795       In this case, the coordinates for Falling Spring have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.679 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.323 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.313 degrees.