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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pender, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pender 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 Pender:
    • 38.870668, -77.368875
    • 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 Pender
  • 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Pender is near Fairfax City and also Loudoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun 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 Pender

Communities Also Named Pender ...

We found three communities that are also named Pender.

Within Virginia, the name Pender is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Missouri
      • Barry 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 Missouri community of Pender [Barry County].
    • Nebraska
      • Thurston County
      • This Pender is located in Thurston County and lies 1,037 miles [1,668.9 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Pender that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thurston County community of Pender.
    • North Carolina
      • Halifax County
      • This Pender is located in Halifax County and lies 177 miles [284.9 km]<2> to the south of the Pender that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Halifax County community of Pender.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pender ...

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.

  • Blue Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Blue Oaks is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Oaks
  • Crystal Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Fair Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Green Acres
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Greenway Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Greenway Hills is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Hills
  • Joyce Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Joyce Heights is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce Heights
  • Lee-Hi Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lee-Hi Village is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee-Hi Village
  • Lees Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lees Corner is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Corner
  • Lewis Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lewis Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Park
  • Lincoln Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Little River Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Little River Hills is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River Hills
  • Maple Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Maple Hills is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hills
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Moneys Corner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Moneys Corner is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneys Corner
    • Navy
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Navy is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navy
    • Random Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Random Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Random Hills
    • Willow Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Willow Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Pender to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 17 miles [27.4 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,913 miles [9,516.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,618 miles [10,650.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,495 miles [7,234 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Pender 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.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pender) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Pender 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 Pender. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8707, Longitude: -77.3689       In this case, the coordinates for Pender have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.087 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.659 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.864 degrees.