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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Radford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Radford 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 Radford:
    • 37.131792, -80.576448
    • 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 Radford
  • 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 Radford

Communities Also Named Radford ...

We found eight communities that are also named Radford.

There are two communities within Virginia that are also named Radford.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • Bedford County
      • This Radford is located in Bedford County and lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<1> to the east.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bedford County community of Radford.
    • Montgomery 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 Virginia community of Radford [Montgomery County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Perry County
      • This Radford is located in Perry County and lies 488 miles [785.4 km]<1> to the southwest.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Radford.
    • Illinois
      • Christian County
      • This Radford is located in Christian County and lies 487 miles [783.8 km]<1> to the west northwest.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Christian County community of Radford.
    • Michigan
      • Ontonagon 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 Radford [Ontonagon County].
    • North Carolina
      • Wayne 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 North Carolina community of Radford [Wayne County].
    • Quebec
      • This Radford lies 622 miles [1,001 km]<1> to the north northeast.
    • Texas
      • Jefferson County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Jefferson County, we don't know where within the .
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Radford.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Radford ...

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 Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Cedar Valley is located in Radford City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
  • Centerville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Centerville is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • College Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • College Park is located in Radford City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Fairlawn
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Fairlawn is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Forest Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Forest Park is located in Radford City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Haven Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Haven Heights is located in Radford City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven Heights
  • Hickory Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hickory Hills is located in Radford City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
  • Mountain View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain View is located in Pulaski County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Pepper
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pepper is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepper
  • Peppers Ferry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Peppers Ferry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppers Ferry
  • Willow Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Willow Woods is located in Radford City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 174 miles [280 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Radford to Richmond, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 227 miles [365.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,124 miles [9,855.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,830 miles [10,991.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,707 miles [7,575.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Radford) 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 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 Radford 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.
<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 Radford, 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 Radford 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 Radford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1318, Longitude: -80.5764       In this case, the coordinates for Radford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.05 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.636 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.809 degrees.