RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Giles County >> Goodwins Ferry >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Goodwins Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Goodwins Ferry 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 Goodwins Ferry:
    • 37.266236, -80.602839
    • 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 Goodwins Ferry
  • 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 Giles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Giles County
    • Since Goodwins Ferry is near Pulaski County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pulaski County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Goodwins Ferry

Communities Also Named Goodwins Ferry ...

We found one communities that are also named Goodwins Ferry.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named Goodwins Ferry.

Beyond Virginia.

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • Montgomery County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Goodwins Ferry [Montgomery County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Goodwins Ferry ...

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.

  • Bear Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bear Spring is located in Giles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Spring
  • Centerville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Centerville is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Dry Branch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Dry Branch is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
  • Maybrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Maybrook is located in Giles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maybrook
  • Mountain Lake
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mountain Lake is located in Giles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Lake
  • Mountain View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mountain View is located in Giles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Parrott
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Parrott is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrott
  • Pepper
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pepper is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepper
  • Peppers Ferry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Peppers Ferry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppers Ferry
  • Prices Fork
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Prices Fork is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prices Fork
  • Ripplemead
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Ripplemead is located in Giles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripplemead
  • Staytide ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Staytide is located in Giles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staytide
  • Wake Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wake Forest is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wake Forest

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Goodwins Ferry and extending to:

  • Pearisburg, which is the Seat of Giles County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 174 miles [280 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Goodwins Ferry to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 224 miles [360.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,119 miles [9,847.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,826 miles [10,985.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,703 miles [7,568.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Goodwins Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Goodwins Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Goodwins Ferry 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 Goodwins Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2662, Longitude: -80.6028       In this case, the coordinates for Goodwins Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.064 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.67 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.777 degrees.