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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Redwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Redwood 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 Redwood:
    • 37.019983, -79.812298
    • 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 Redwood
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Redwood is near Bedford County and also Pittsylvania County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pittsylvania 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 Redwood

Communities Also Named Redwood ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Redwood.

Within Virginia, the name Redwood is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Indiana
      • Warren 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 Indiana community of Redwood [Warren County].
    • Kansas
      • Dickinson County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Dickinson County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickinson County community of Redwood.
    • Minnesota
      • Redwood 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 Minnesota community of Redwood [Redwood County].
    • Mississippi
      • Warren County
      • This Redwood is located in Warren County and lies 697 miles [1,121.7 km]<3> to the west southwest of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Redwood.
    • New York
      • Jefferson County
      • This Redwood is located in Jefferson County and lies 544 miles [875.5 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Redwood.
      • Suffolk County
      • This Redwood is located in Suffolk County and lies 486 miles [782.1 km] to the northeast of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk County community of Redwood.
    • North Carolina
      • Durham County
      • This Redwood is located in Durham County and lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<3> to the southeast of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Durham County community of Redwood.
    • Ontario
      • This Redwood lies 611 miles [983.3 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
    • Oregon
      • Josephine County
      • This Redwood is located in Josephine County and lies 2,318 miles [3,730.5 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Josephine County community of Redwood.
    • Texas
      • Guadalupe County
      • This Redwood is located in Guadalupe County and lies 1,153 miles [1,855.6 km]<3> to the west southwest of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guadalupe County community of Redwood.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Redwood is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,736 miles [2,793.8 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Redwood that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Redwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Redwood ...

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.

  • Burnt Chimney
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Crafts Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crafts Point is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crafts Point
  • Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crossroads is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Foxsport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Foxsport is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxsport
  • Hay Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hay Run is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay Run
  • Helm
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Helm is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helm
  • Henry Fork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Henry Fork is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry Fork
  • Red Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Red Valley is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Valley
  • Rocky Mount
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Union Hall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Rocky Mount, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 135 miles [217.3 km]<3> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Redwood to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 199 miles [320.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,096 miles [9,810.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,800 miles [10,943.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,678 miles [7,528.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Redwood 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>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 Redwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Redwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Redwood 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 Redwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0200, Longitude: -79.8123    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.602 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.107 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.532 degrees.