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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Messick, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Messick 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 Messick:
    • 37.122366, -76.333555
    • 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 Messick
  • 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 Messick

Communities Also Named Messick ...

We found three communities that are also named Messick.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named Messick.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • York County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Messick [York County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Indiana
      • Henry County
      • This Messick is located in Henry County and lies 522 miles [840.1 km]<2> to the west northwest.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Messick.
    • Louisiana
      • Natchitoches Parish
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Messick [Natchitoches Parish].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Messick ...

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.

  • Cedar Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Park is located in Hampton City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Park
  • Chapel Village
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Chapel Village is located in Hampton City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Village
  • Dare
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dare is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dare
  • Earness
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Earness is located in Poquoson City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earness
  • Edgewater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Edgewater is located in Hampton City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Evergreen Shores
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen Shores is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Shores
  • Fox Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Fox Corner is located in Hampton City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Corner
  • Fox Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fox Hill is located in Hampton City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Grand View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Grand View is located in Hampton City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View
  • Harpersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Harpersville is located in Newport News City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpersville
  • Heritage Hamlet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Heritage Hamlet is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hamlet
  • Holiday Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Holiday Park is located in Hampton City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Park
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Holly Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Holly Hills is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hills
    • Lynnhaven
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Lynnhaven is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnhaven
    • Odd
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Odd is located in Poquoson City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odd
    • Poor Farm
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Poor Farm is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poor Farm
    • Willow Green
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Willow Green is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Green

How Far From Messick 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 Messick 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 Messick once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Messick and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 67 miles [107.8 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Messick to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full 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 128 miles [206 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,942 miles [9,562.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,637 miles [10,681.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,518 miles [7,271 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Messick 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 . 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Messick) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Messick, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Messick 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 Messick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1224, Longitude: -76.3336       In this case, the coordinates for Messick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.586 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.821 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.102 degrees.