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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hyco, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hyco and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Hyco:
    • 36.612084, -78.851119
    • 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 Hyco
  • 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 Halifax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Halifax County
    • Since Hyco is near Person County and also Mecklenburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Person County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg 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 Hyco

Communities Also Named Hyco ...

We found three communities that are also named Hyco.

Within Virginia, the name Hyco is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • McPherson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Hyco [McPherson County].
    • North Carolina
      • Person County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Hyco [Person County].
    • South Carolina
      • Kershaw County
      • This Hyco is located in Kershaw County and lies 184 miles [296.1 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Hyco that is located in Halifax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kershaw County community of Hyco.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hyco ...

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.

  • Cedar Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Christie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Christie is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christie
  • Cluster Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cluster Springs is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cluster Springs
  • Five Forks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Five Forks is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Harmony
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Harmony is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • High Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • High Hill is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Hill
  • Marsailles ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Marsailles is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsailles
  • Mayo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mayo is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
  • Nelson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Nelson is located in Mecklenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pools Mill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Pools Mill is located in Halifax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pools Mill
    • Red Bank
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Red Bank is located in Halifax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
    • Rip Rap
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Rip Rap is located in Halifax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rip Rap
    • Shady Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Shady Grove is located in Halifax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Triple Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Triple Springs is located in Person County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triple Springs
    • Wolf Trap
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Wolf Trap is located in Halifax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Trap

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

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

  • Halifax, which is the Seat of Halifax County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Hyco to Halifax, with an average speed<3> 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 101 miles [162.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 186 miles [299.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,073 miles [9,773.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,773 miles [10,900.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,652 miles [7,486.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Hyco 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.
<2>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- Hyco) 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 Hyco 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 Hyco. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6121, Longitude: -78.8511       In this case, the coordinates for Hyco have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.052 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.418 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.28 degrees.