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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Folly, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Folly 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 Folly:
- 37.879575, -76.327724
- 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 Folly
- 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 Northumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Northumberland County
- Since Folly is near Lancaster County and also Richmond County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Richmond 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 Folly
Communities Also Named Folly ...
We found two communities that are also named Folly.
Within Virginia, the name Folly is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- North Carolina
- Gates 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 North Carolina community of Folly [Gates County].
- Oregon
- Tillamook 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 Oregon community of Folly [Tillamook County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Folly ...
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.
- Blackberry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Blackberry is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry
- Edwardsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Edwardsville is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Fairport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fairport is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
- Jetts Store
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jetts Store is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jetts Store
- Reedville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sandy Point
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sandy Point is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Point
- Sunnybank
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Sunnybank is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybank
- Sunnybank Ferry
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Sunnybank Ferry is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybank Ferry
- Surprise Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Surprise Hill is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surprise Hill
How Far From Folly 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 Folly to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Folly and extending to:
- Heathsville, which is the Seat of Northumberland County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 64 miles [103 km]<3> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Folly 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 about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 80 miles [128.7 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 5,910 miles [9,511.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,609 miles [10,636.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,488 miles [7,222.7 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 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 Folly 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Folly) 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 Folly 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 Folly. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8796, Longitude: -76.3277 In this case, the coordinates for Folly have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.539 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.884 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.813 degrees. |
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