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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hotchkiss, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hotchkiss 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 Hotchkiss:
    • 38.001517, -79.580878
    • 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 Hotchkiss
  • 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 Bath County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bath County
    • Since Hotchkiss is near Rockbridge County and also Augusta County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockbridge County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Augusta 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 Hotchkiss

Communities Also Named Hotchkiss ...

We found five communities that are also named Hotchkiss.

Within Virginia, the name Hotchkiss is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Hotchkiss lies 2,161 miles [3,477.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Hotchkiss that is located in Bath County.
    • Colorado
      • Delta County
      • This Hotchkiss is located in Delta County and lies 1,517 miles [2,441.4 km]<1> to the west of the Hotchkiss that is located in Bath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delta County community of Hotchkiss.
      • Weld 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 Colorado community of Hotchkiss [Weld County].
    • Montana
      • Custer 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 Montana community of Hotchkiss [Custer County].
    • West Virginia
      • Raleigh County
      • This Hotchkiss is located in Raleigh County and lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Hotchkiss that is located in Bath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Raleigh County community of Hotchkiss.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hotchkiss ...

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.

  • California
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • California is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California
  • Chimney Run
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Chimney Run is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Run
  • Craigsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Crane
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Crane is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
  • Denmark
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Denmark is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
  • Dunns ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Dunns is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunns
  • Fordwick
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Fordwick is located in Augusta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordwick
  • Fredericksburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fredericksburg is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredericksburg
  • Green Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Green Valley is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Marble Valley
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Marble Valley is located in Augusta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Valley
  • Mitchelltown
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Mitchelltown is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchelltown
  • Sycamore Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sycamore Valley is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Valley
  • Warm Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Zack
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Zack is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zack

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

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

  • Warm Springs, which is the Seat of Bath County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Hotchkiss to Warm Springs, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 121 miles [194.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 150 miles [241.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,043 miles [9,725.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,751 miles [10,864.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,627 miles [7,446.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hotchkiss) 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 Hotchkiss 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Hotchkiss 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 Hotchkiss. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0015, Longitude: -79.5809       In this case, the coordinates for Hotchkiss have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.438 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.066 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.107 degrees.