RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Powhatan County >> Plain View >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Plain View, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plain View 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 Plain View:
    • 37.538204, -77.888332
    • 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 Plain View
  • 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 Powhatan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Powhatan County
    • Since Plain View is near Amelia County and also Goochland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amelia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Goochland 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 Plain View

Communities Also Named Plain View ...

We found six communities that are also named Plain View.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named Plain View.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • King and Queen County
      • This Plain View is located in King and Queen County and lies 66 miles [106.2 km]<1> to the east of the Plain View that is located in Powhatan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King and Queen County community of Plain View.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Plain View is located in Jefferson County and lies 568 miles [914.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Plain View that is located in Powhatan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Plain View.
    • Arkansas
      • Jefferson County
      • This Plain View is located in Jefferson County and lies 824 miles [1,326.1 km]<1> to the west of the Plain View that is located in Powhatan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Plain View.
    • Iowa
      • Scott 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 Iowa community of Plain View [Scott County].
    • North Carolina
      • Richmond County
      • This Plain View is located in Richmond County and lies 194 miles [312.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Plain View that is located in Powhatan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richmond County community of Plain View.
      • Sampson County
      • This Plain View is located in Sampson County and lies 162 miles [260.7 km] to the south southwest of the Plain View that is located in Powhatan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sampson County community of Plain View.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Plain View ...

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.

  • Chestnut Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Chestnut Oaks is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Oaks
  • Clayville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Clayville is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayville
  • Fine Creek Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fine Creek Mills is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fine Creek Mills
  • Flat Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Flat Rock is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
  • Goode Crossing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Goode Crossing is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goode Crossing
  • Hideaway Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hideaway Lake is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway Lake
  • Holly Hills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Holly Hills is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hills
  • Hunters Woods
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hunters Woods is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Woods
  • Lee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lee is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Masons Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Masons Corner is located in Amelia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masons Corner
  • Pleasant Green
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Green is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Green
  • Strawberry Run
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Strawberry Run is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Run
  • Subletts
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Subletts is located in Powhatan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Subletts
  • Timber Ridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Timber Ridge is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge

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

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

  • Powhatan, which is the Seat of Powhatan County, lies just to the West.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Plain View to Richmond, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 104 miles [167.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,992 miles [9,643.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,693 miles [10,771.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,571 miles [7,356.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Plain View) 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 Plain View 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 Plain View 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 Plain View. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5382, Longitude: -77.8883       In this case, the coordinates for Plain View have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.461 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.882 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.571 degrees.