Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Masons Store, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Masons Store and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Masons Store
- 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 Masons Store:
- 36.803437, -82.287363
- 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 Masons Store
- 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 Russell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Russell County
- Since Masons Store is near Scott County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Masons Store ...
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.
- Bolton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Grassy Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grassy Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Creek
- Grassy Creek is located in Russell County
- Hobbs Ford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobbs Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs Ford
- Hobbs Ford is located in Washington County
- Little Duck
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Duck have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Duck
- Little Duck is located in Scott County
- Mew
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Parsonage
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Point Truth
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Truth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Truth
- Point Truth is located in Russell County
- Ravens Nest
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ravens Nest have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravens Nest
- Ravens Nest is located in Washington County
- Sunny Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunny Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Point
- Sunny Point is located in Russell County
- Temple Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Temple Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hill
- Temple Hill is located in Russell County
- Walnut Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Washington County
- Willow Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Willow Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
- Willow Springs is located in Russell County
How Far From Masons Store 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 Masons Store 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<3> community of Masons Store once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Masons Store and extending to:
- Lebanon, which is the Seat of Russell County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<4> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Masons Store to Lebanon, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 271 miles [436.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 320 miles [515 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,210 miles [9,994 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,920 miles [11,136.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,796 miles [7,718.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | 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 Masons Store, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Masons Store) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Masons Store. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8034, Longitude: -82.2874 In this case, the coordinates for Masons Store have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Masons Store to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.072 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.756 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.619 degrees. |