RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Dinwiddie County >> Rocky Run >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rocky Run, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rocky Run 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 Rocky Run:
    • 37.075705, -77.684437
    • 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 Rocky Run
  • 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 Dinwiddie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dinwiddie County
    • Since Rocky Run is near Brunswick County and also Amelia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brunswick County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amelia 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 Rocky Run

Communities Also Named Rocky Run ...

We found four communities that are also named Rocky Run.

There are two communities within Virginia that are also named Rocky Run.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • Orange 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 Virginia community of Rocky Run [Orange County].
    • Prince William County
      • This Rocky Run is located in Prince William County and lies 117 miles [188.3 km]<2> to the north of the Rocky Run that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince William County community of Rocky Run.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Wisconsin
      • Columbia 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 Wisconsin community of Rocky Run [Columbia County].
      • Portage County
      • This Rocky Run is located in Portage County and lies 808 miles [1,300.3 km]<2> to the northwest of the Rocky Run that is located in Dinwiddie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portage County community of Rocky Run.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rocky Run ...

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.

  • Champ
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Champ is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champ
  • Chestnut Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Gardens is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Gardens
  • Five Forks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Five Forks is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Harpers
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Harpers is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers
  • Hebron
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hebron is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Hickory Run
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hickory Run is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Run
  • Hunters Green
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hunters Green is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Green
  • Jack
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jack is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jack
  • Spainville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Spainville is located in Nottoway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spainville
  • Stony Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Stony Springs is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Springs
  • Sturgeonville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Sturgeonville is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeonville
  • Virginia Hills
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Virginia Hills is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills

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

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

  • Dinwiddie, which is the Seat of Dinwiddie County, lies just to the East.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 34 miles [54.7 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Rocky Run to Richmond, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 130 miles [209.2 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,003 miles [9,660.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,701 miles [10,784.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,581 miles [7,372.4 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 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 Rocky Run 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rocky Run) 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 Rocky Run 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 Rocky Run. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0757, Longitude: -77.6844       In this case, the coordinates for Rocky Run have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.363 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.70 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.655 degrees.