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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oakhill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oakhill 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 Oakhill:
    • 37.193484, -77.455817
    • 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 Oakhill
  • 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 Dinwiddie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dinwiddie County
    • Since Oakhill is near Petersburg City and also Chesterfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Petersburg City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield 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 Oakhill

Communities Also Named Oakhill ...

We found nine communities that are also named Oakhill.

Within Virginia, the name Oakhill is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Cobb County
      • This Oakhill is located in Cobb County and lies 463 miles [745.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Oakhill that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cobb County community of Oakhill.
      • Hall County
      • This Oakhill is located in Hall County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km] to the west southwest of the Oakhill that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hall County community of Oakhill.
      • Henry County
      • This Oakhill is located in Henry County and lies 456 miles [733.9 km] to the west southwest of the Oakhill that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Oakhill.
    • Louisiana
      • Natchitoches Parish
      • This Oakhill is located in Natchitoches Parish and lies 967 miles [1,556.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Oakhill that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Natchitoches Parish community of Oakhill.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Oakhill is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Oakhill that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Oakhill.
    • Michigan
      • Berrien 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 Michigan community of Oakhill [Berrien County].
    • Minnesota
      • Todd 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 Minnesota community of Oakhill [Todd County].
    • Missouri
      • Barry County
      • This Oakhill is located in Barry County and lies 898 miles [1,445.2 km]<1> to the west of the Oakhill that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barry County community of Oakhill.
    • Ontario
      • This Oakhill lies 437 miles [703.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Oakhill that is located in Dinwiddie County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakhill ...

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.

  • Camelot
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Camelot is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Chestnut Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Gardens is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Gardens
  • College Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • College Park is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Field Crossing
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Field Crossing is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Field Crossing
  • Grant Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Grant Village is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Village
  • Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Heights is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heights
  • Jack
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jack is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jack
  • Rabbit Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rabbit Run is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Run
  • Ramblewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Ramblewood is located in Petersburg City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramblewood
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • River View Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • River View Park is located in Chesterfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View Park
    • Robertson Place
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Robertson Place is located in Chesterfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertson Place
    • Sandy Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandy Ridge is located in Chesterfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
    • Trojan Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Trojan Woods is located in Chesterfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trojan Woods
    • Virginia Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Virginia Hills is located in Dinwiddie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
    • Walnut Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Petersburg City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

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

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

  • Dinwiddie, which is the Seat of Dinwiddie County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Oakhill to Dinwiddie, with an average speed<3> 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 24 miles [38.6 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 119 miles [191.5 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,988 miles [9,636.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,686 miles [10,760.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,566 miles [7,348.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Oakhill) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Oakhill 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 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.
<4>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 Oakhill 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 Oakhill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1935, Longitude: -77.4558       In this case, the coordinates for Oakhill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.226 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.562 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.521 degrees.