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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Farnham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Farnham 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 Farnham:
    • 37.885667, -76.625338
    • 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 Farnham
  • 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 Richmond County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richmond County
    • Since Farnham is near Northumberland County and also Lancaster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Northumberland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster 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 Farnham

Communities Also Named Farnham ...

We found nine communities that are also named Farnham.

Within Virginia, the name Farnham is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Summit County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Farnham [Summit County].
    • Michigan
      • Houghton County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Farnham [Houghton County].
      • Menominee 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 Michigan community of Farnham [Menominee County].
    • New York
      • Erie County
      • This Farnham is located in Erie County and lies 349 miles [561.7 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Farnham that is located in Richmond County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Farnham.
    • Ohio
      • Ashtabula County
      • This Farnham is located in Ashtabula County and lies 347 miles [558.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the Farnham that is located in Richmond County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashtabula County community of Farnham.
      • Wood County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Farnham [Wood County].
    • Ontario
      • This Farnham lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Farnham that is located in Richmond County.
    • Quebec
      • This Farnham lies 544 miles [875.5 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Farnham that is located in Richmond County.
    • Utah
      • Emery County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Farnham [Emery County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Farnham ...

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.

  • Bridgetown ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bridgetown is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown
  • Fairplay
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Fairplay is located in Richmond County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplay
  • Hogans Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hogans Hill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogans Hill
  • Hyacinth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hyacinth is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyacinth
  • Indian Field
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Field is located in Richmond County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Field
  • Moon Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Moon Corner is located in Richmond County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Corner
  • Mulch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mulch is located in Richmond County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulch
  • Nuttsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Nuttsville is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nuttsville
  • Pierces Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pierces Corner is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierces Corner
  • Rainswood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Rich Neck
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Slash
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Slash is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slash
  • Tidewater
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Tidewater is located in Richmond County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tidewater
  • Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Village is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village

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

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

  • Warsaw, which is the Seat of Richmond County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 50 miles [80.5 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Farnham to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 73 miles [117.5 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,923 miles [9,532.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,622 miles [10,657.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,501 miles [7,243.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Farnham 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.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Farnham) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Farnham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Farnham 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 Farnham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8857, Longitude: -76.6253    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.711 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.08 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.931 degrees.