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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Groveton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Groveton 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 Groveton:
    • 38.767336, -77.084700
    • 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 Groveton
  • 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Groveton is near Alexandria City and also Prince George's County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's 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 Groveton

Communities Also Named Groveton ...

We found seven communities that are also named Groveton.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named Groveton.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • Prince William County
      • This Groveton is located in Prince William County and lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<1> to the west of the Groveton that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince William County community of Groveton.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Saginaw County
      • This Groveton is located in Saginaw County and lies 479 miles [770.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Groveton that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saginaw County community of Groveton.
    • New Hampshire
      • Coos County
      • This Groveton is located in Coos County and lies 494 miles [795 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Groveton that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coos County community of Groveton.
    • Ontario
      • This Groveton lies 430 miles [692 km]<1> to the north of the Groveton that is located in Fairfax County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Groveton is located in Allegheny County and lies 201 miles [323.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Groveton that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Groveton.
    • South Dakota
      • Minnehaha 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 South Dakota community of Groveton [Minnehaha County].
    • Texas
      • Trinity County
      • This Groveton is located in Trinity County and lies 1,149 miles [1,849.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Groveton that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trinity County community of Groveton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Groveton ...

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.

  • Cannon
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cannon is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
  • Fair Haven
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fair Haven is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
  • Fort Hunt
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Hunt is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Hunt
  • Governors Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Governors Grove is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Governors Grove
  • Gum Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Gum Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Hayfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hayfield is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
  • Marlin Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Marlin Forest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlin Forest
  • Memorial Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Memorial Heights is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Heights
  • Ridgeview
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Ridgeview is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
  • Rose Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rose Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
  • Silver Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
  • Spring Bank
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Spring Bank is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bank
  • Sunnyview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Sunnyview is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
  • Virginia Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Virginia Hills is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Groveton to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 9 miles [14.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,610 miles [10,637.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,487 miles [7,221.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Groveton) 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 Groveton 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.
<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 Groveton 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 Groveton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7673, Longitude: -77.0847       In this case, the coordinates for Groveton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.926 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.46 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.784 degrees.