RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Forest Lawn >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Forest Lawn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Forest Lawn 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 Forest Lawn:
    • 37.303468, -80.035318
    • 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 Forest Lawn
  • 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 Forest Lawn

Communities Also Named Forest Lawn ...

We found four communities that are also named Forest Lawn.

Within Virginia, the name Forest Lawn is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Forest Lawn lies 1,905 miles [3,065.8 km]<1> to the northwest.
    • Maryland
      • Harford County
      • This Forest Lawn is located in Harford County and lies 251 miles [403.9 km]<1> to the northeast.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Forest Lawn.
    • Michigan
      • Wayne 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 Michigan community of Forest Lawn [Wayne County].
    • New York
      • Monroe County
      • This Forest Lawn is located in Monroe County and lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<1> to the north northeast.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Forest Lawn.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Forest Lawn ...

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.

  • Cherry Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Hill is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
  • Cliffview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cliffview is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffview
  • Covehaven Court
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Covehaven Court is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covehaven Court
  • Dale Court
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Dale Court is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale Court
  • Dawnwood Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Dawnwood Forest is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawnwood Forest
  • Dropmore
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Dropmore is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dropmore
  • Edgelawn
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Edgelawn is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgelawn
  • Evans Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Evans Hill is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Hill
  • Foxwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Foxwood is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxwood
  • Glen Cove
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Glen Cove is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
  • Grandview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Grandview is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Grove Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Grove Park is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Hanging Rock
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Hanging Rock is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanging Rock
    • Hemlock Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Hemlock Hills is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock Hills
    • Hockman
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Hockman is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockman
    • Homeplace
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Homeplace is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeplace
    • Honeysuckle Bluff
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Honeysuckle Bluff is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honeysuckle Bluff
    • Karen Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Karen Hills is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karen Hills
    • Lake Spring
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Lake Spring is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Spring
    • Lake View
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Lake View is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
    • Locust Grove Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Locust Grove Park is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove Park
    • Lone Oak
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Lone Oak is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
    • Meadowview
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Meadowview is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
    • Medley
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Medley is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medley
    • Mountain View
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Mountain View is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
    • Orchard Court
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Orchard Court is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Court
    • Plainview
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Plainview is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
    • Rolling Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Rolling Woods is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Woods
    • Shamrock
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Shamrock is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
    • Spangler
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Spangler is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
    • Spring Garden
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Spring Garden is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
    • Stonegate
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Stonegate is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
    • Summit Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Summit Hills is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Hills
    • Willow Green
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Willow Green is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Green
    • Woodside Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Woodside Park is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside Park

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 143 miles [230.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Forest Lawn to Richmond, with an average speed<3>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 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 196 miles [315.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,093 miles [9,805.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,799 miles [10,941.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,676 miles [7,525.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Forest Lawn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Forest Lawn 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 . 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>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.
<4>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 Forest Lawn 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 Forest Lawn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3035, Longitude: -80.0353       In this case, the coordinates for Forest Lawn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.727 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.291 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.53 degrees.