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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Magruder, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Magruder 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 Magruder:
    • 37.323201, -76.674678
    • 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 Magruder
  • 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 York County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Since Magruder is near Williamsburg City and also James City County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Williamsburg City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for James City 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 Magruder

Communities Also Named Magruder ...

We found three communities that are also named Magruder.

Within Virginia, the name Magruder is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Burke County
      • This Magruder is located in Burke County and lies 437 miles [703.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Magruder that is located in York County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Burke County community of Magruder.
    • North Carolina
      • Bladen 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 North Carolina community of Magruder [Bladen County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Major 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 Oklahoma community of Magruder [Major County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Magruder ...

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.

  • Adams Hunt
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Adams Hunt is located in James City County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Hunt
  • Allmondsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Allmondsville is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allmondsville
  • Camelot
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Camelot is located in James City County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Charles Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Charles Corner is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charles Corner
  • Chisel Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Chisel Run is located in James City County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chisel Run
  • Clay Bank
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Clay Bank is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Bank
  • Fords Colony
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Fords Colony is located in James City County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Colony
  • Greensprings
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Greensprings is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensprings
  • Hermitage
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hermitage is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
  • Hermitage Banks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hermitage Banks is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage Banks
  • Indigo Terrace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Indigo Terrace is located in James City County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indigo Terrace
  • James Terrace
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • James Terrace is located in James City County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Terrace
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Kingspoint
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Kingspoint is located in James City County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingspoint
    • Lightfoot
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Longhill Gate
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Longhill Gate is located in James City County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longhill Gate
    • Middle Plantation
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Middle Plantation is located in James City County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Plantation
    • Oaktree
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Oaktree is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaktree
    • Porta Bello
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Porta Bello is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porta Bello
    • Queens Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Queens Lake is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queens Lake
    • Queenswood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Queenswood is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queenswood
    • Rich Neck Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rich Neck Heights is located in Williamsburg City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Neck Heights
    • Rosewell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Rosewell is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewell
    • Rosewell Harbor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Rosewell Harbor is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewell Harbor
    • Walnut Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Walnut Hills is located in Williamsburg City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hills

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

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

  • Yorktown, which is the Seat of York County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Magruder to Yorktown, 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 44 miles [70.8 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 110 miles [177 km] to the north (N). Driving 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 5,949 miles [9,574 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,646 miles [10,695.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,526 miles [7,283.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Magruder) 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 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 Magruder 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 Magruder 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 Magruder. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3232, Longitude: -76.6747       In this case, the coordinates for Magruder have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.77 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.062 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.162 degrees.