RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> York County >> Harwoods Mill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Harwoods Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harwoods Mill 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 Harwoods Mill:
    • 37.138201, -76.450226
    • 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 Harwoods Mill
  • 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 York County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Since Harwoods Mill is near Newport News City and also Poquoson City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Newport News City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Poquoson City
  • 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 Harwoods Mill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Harwoods Mill ...

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.

  • College Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • College Park is located in Newport News City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Dare
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Dare is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dare
  • Deer Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Deer Park is located in Newport News City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
  • Evergreen Shores
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Evergreen Shores is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Shores
  • Harpersville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Harpersville is located in Newport News City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpersville
  • Harris Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Harris Grove is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Grove
  • Heritage Hamlet
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Heritage Hamlet is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hamlet
  • Holly Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Holly Hills is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hills
  • Kentucky Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Kentucky Farms is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentucky Farms
  • Mammoth Oak
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mammoth Oak is located in Newport News City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth Oak
  • Maple Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Grove is located in Newport News City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
  • Maxwell Garden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Maxwell Garden is located in Newport News City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell Garden
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Oyster Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Oyster Point is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Point
    • Poor Farm
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Poor Farm is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poor Farm
    • Red Hill Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Red Hill Village is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill Village
    • Willow Green
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Willow Green is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Green

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Harwoods Mill and extending to:

  • Yorktown, which is the Seat of York County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Harwoods Mill to Richmond, with an average speed<2> 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 125 miles [201.2 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,947 miles [9,570.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,642 miles [10,689.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,523 miles [7,279.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Harwoods Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Harwoods Mill 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 Harwoods Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1382, Longitude: -76.4502       In this case, the coordinates for Harwoods Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.652 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.899 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.142 degrees.