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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lukes Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lukes Island 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 Lukes Island:
    • 38.056800, -76.902467
    • 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 Lukes Island
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lukes Island ...

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.

  • Chance
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chance have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chance
    • Chance is located in Essex County
  • China Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for China Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Hill
    • China Hill is located in Richmond County
  • Farmers Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmers Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Fork
    • Farmers Fork is located in Richmond County
  • Flat Iron
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Iron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Iron
    • Flat Iron is located in Westmoreland County
  • Germans Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Germans Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germans Corner
    • Germans Corner is located in Richmond County
  • Harts ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harts have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harts
    • Harts is located in Westmoreland County
  • Havelock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Havelock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
    • Havelock is located in Richmond County
  • Jenkins Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jenkins Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Landing
    • Jenkins Landing is located in Essex County
  • Newland
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newland
    • Newland is located in Richmond County
  • Oak Row
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Row have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Row
    • Oak Row is located in Richmond County
  • Piney Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piney Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
    • Piney Grove is located in Richmond County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<2> community of Lukes Island once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Lukes Island and extending to:

  • Warsaw, which is the Seat of Richmond County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Lukes Island to Warsaw, 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 45 miles [72.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 58 miles [93.3 km] to the north (N). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,927 miles [9,538.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,628 miles [10,666.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,507 miles [7,253.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>

The official website for Richmond County: www.co.richmond.va.us/

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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 Lukes Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Lukes Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lukes Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0568, Longitude: -76.9025       In this case, the coordinates for Lukes Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Lukes Island 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 307.861 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.278 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.979 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024