Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fords, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fords and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fords
- 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 Fords:
- 37.686257, -77.714436
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Fords
- 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 Goochland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Goochland County
- Since Fords is near Hanover County and also Henrico County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hanover County
- eBird sighting report for Henrico 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Fords ...
We found six communities that share the name Fords.
There is one other community in Virginia which is also named Fords.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Virginia ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Louisiana
- Allen Parish
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Fords [Allen Parish].
- Bienville Parish
- This Fords is located in Bienville Parish and lies 931 miles [1,498.3 km]<3> to the west southwest of the Fords that is located in Goochland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bienville Parish community of Fords.
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- Texas
- Louisiana
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fords ...
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.
- Amber Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amber Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber Lake
- Amber Lake is located in Goochland County
- Centerville
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Goochland County
- Dover Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Fox Downs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Goosepoint
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goosepoint have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goosepoint
- Goosepoint is located in Goochland County
- Hermitage Hamlet
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermitage Hamlet have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage Hamlet
- Hermitage Hamlet is located in Goochland County
- Hickory Haven
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Haven
- Hickory Haven is located in Goochland County
- Pickels
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Rockville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Rockville is located in Hanover County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockville <5>
- Smokey Hollow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smokey Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smokey Hollow
- Smokey Hollow is located in Goochland County
- Sycamore Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Creek
- Sycamore Creek is located in Goochland County
- Wheatlands
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheatlands have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatlands
- Wheatlands is located in Goochland County
- Windy Run
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
How Far From Fords 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 Fords to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fords and extending to:
- Goochland, which is the Seat of Goochland County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Fords to Goochland, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 18 miles [29 km] to the southeast (SE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 91 miles [146.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 6 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,978 miles [9,620.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,679 miles [10,748.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,558 miles [7,335.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fords. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Goochland County: www.co.goochland.va.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 Fords 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> | 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 Fords, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 from Point A (ie- Fords) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fords. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6863, Longitude: -77.7144 In this case, the coordinates for Fords have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Fords to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.353 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.781 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.447 degrees. |