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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laban, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laban 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 Laban:
    • 37.400414, -76.283552
    • 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 Laban
  • 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 Mathews County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mathews County
    • Since Laban is near Gloucester County and also Middlesex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gloucester County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex 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 Laban

Communities Also Named Laban ...

We found three communities that are also named Laban.

Within Virginia, the name Laban is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Mitchell County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Mitchell County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mitchell County community of Laban.
    • Tennessee
      • Carter County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Laban [Carter County].
    • Texas
      • Colorado County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Laban [Colorado County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laban ...

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.

  • Haven ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Haven is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven
  • Haven Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Haven Beach is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven Beach
  • Moon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Moon is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon
  • Redart
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Redart is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redart
  • Sarah
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sarah is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarah
  • Shadow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Shadow is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow
  • Susan
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Susan is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan
  • Tabernacle
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Tabernacle is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabernacle
  • Winter Harbor Haven
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Winter Harbor Haven is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Harbor Haven

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Laban and extending to:

  • Mathews, which is the Seat of Mathews County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 63 miles [101.4 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Laban to Richmond, with an average speed<3> 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 111 miles [178.6 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 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,928 miles [9,540.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,625 miles [10,661.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,505 miles [7,250.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Laban, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Laban) 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 Laban 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 Laban. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4004, Longitude: -76.2836       In this case, the coordinates for Laban have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.542 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.813 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.977 degrees.