Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McHenry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McHenry and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McHenry
- 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 McHenry:
- 38.175485, -77.702647
- 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 McHenry
- 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 Spotsylvania County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Spotsylvania County
- Since McHenry is near Orange County and also Louisa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Orange County
- eBird sighting report for Louisa 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
Communities Also Named McHenry ...
We found eight communities that share the name McHenry.
Within Virginia, the name McHenry is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- North Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near McHenry ...
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.
- Jones
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Lanes Corner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanes Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanes Corner
- Lanes Corner is located in Spotsylvania County
- Margo
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Margo
- Margo is located in Spotsylvania County
- Mount Pleasant
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Spotsylvania County
- Olivers Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olivers Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Corner
- Olivers Corner is located in Spotsylvania County
- Penneys Crossroad
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Penneys Crossroad have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penneys Crossroad
- Penneys Crossroad is located in Spotsylvania County
- Porters
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Post Oak
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak
- Post Oak is located in Spotsylvania County
- Screamerville ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Screamerville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamerville
- Screamerville is located in Spotsylvania County
- Shady Grove Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove Corner
- Shady Grove Corner is located in Spotsylvania County
- Todds Tavern
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todds Tavern
- Todds Tavern is located in Spotsylvania County
How Far From McHenry 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 McHenry to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McHenry and extending to:
- Spotsylvania, which is the Seat of Spotsylvania County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 46 miles [74 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from McHenry to Richmond, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 61 miles [98.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,956 miles [9,585.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,660 miles [10,718.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,537 miles [7,301.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for McHenry. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Spotsylvania County: www.spotsylvania.va.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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McHenry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McHenry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1755, Longitude: -77.7026 |
| <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 McHenry 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> | 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. |
| <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 McHenry 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 308.322 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.82 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.264 degrees. |