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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Parsonage, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Parsonage 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 Parsonage:
    • 36.835938, -82.247361
    • 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 Parsonage
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell County
    • Since Parsonage is near Washington County and also Wise County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise 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 Parsonage

Curious and Interesting Names Near Parsonage ...

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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bolton is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
  • Boody
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Boody is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boody
  • Counts
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Counts is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Counts
  • Craigs Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Craigs Mill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigs Mill
  • Grassy Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Grassy Creek is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Creek
  • Gravel Lick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Gravel Lick is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Lick
  • Jessees Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jessees Mill is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jessees Mill
  • Lonesome ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lonesome is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonesome
  • Masons Store ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Masons Store is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masons Store
  • Mew
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Mew is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mew
  • Point Truth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Point Truth is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Truth
  • Ravens Nest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Ravens Nest is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravens Nest
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Sun
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Sun is located in Russell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun
    • Sunny Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Sunny Point is located in Russell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Point
    • Temple Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Temple Hill is located in Russell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hill
    • Virginia City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Virginia City is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
    • Willow Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Willow Springs is located in Russell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

How Far From Parsonage to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Parsonage to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Parsonage and extending to:

  • Lebanon, which is the Seat of Russell County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Parsonage to Lebanon, with an average speed<2> 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 269 miles [432.9 km] to the east (E). 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 317 miles [510.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,207 miles [9,989.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,917 miles [11,131.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,793 miles [7,713.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Parsonage) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Parsonage 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 Parsonage. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8359, Longitude: -82.2474       In this case, the coordinates for Parsonage have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.048 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.733 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.593 degrees.