Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Jack, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Jack and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Jack
- 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 Jack:
- 37.196539, -77.509153
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Jack
- 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 Dinwiddie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Dinwiddie County
- Since Jack is near Chesterfield County and also Petersburg City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Chesterfield County
- eBird sighting report for Petersburg 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Jack ...
We found five communities that share the name Jack.
Within Virginia, the name Jack is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
Curious and Interesting Names Near Jack ...
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.
- Camelot
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Chestnut Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Gardens
- Chestnut Gardens is located in Dinwiddie County
- College Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for College Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
- College Park is located in Chesterfield County
- Field Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Field Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Field Crossing
- Field Crossing is located in Petersburg City
- Grant Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grant Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Village
- Grant Village is located in Dinwiddie County
- Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Hunters Green
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunters Green have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Green
- Hunters Green is located in Chesterfield County
- Rabbit Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rabbit Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Run
- Rabbit Run is located in Chesterfield County
- Ramblewood
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramblewood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramblewood
- Ramblewood is located in Petersburg City
- River View Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River View Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View Park
- River View Park is located in Chesterfield County
- Robertson Place
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robertson Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertson Place
- Robertson Place is located in Chesterfield County
- Sandy Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
- Sandy Ridge is located in Chesterfield County
- Trojan Woods
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trojan Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trojan Woods
- Trojan Woods is located in Chesterfield County
- Virginia Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
- Virginia Hills is located in Dinwiddie County
How Far From Jack 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 Jack to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Jack and extending to:
- Dinwiddie, which is the Seat of Dinwiddie County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Jack to Dinwiddie, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 24 miles [38.6 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 120 miles [193.1 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,990 miles [9,640 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,689 miles [10,764.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,568 miles [7,351.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Jack. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Dinwiddie County: www.dinwiddieva.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Jack) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Jack. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1965, Longitude: -77.5092 In this case, the coordinates for Jack have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Jack 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Jack to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.256 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.597 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.541 degrees. |