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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sexton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sexton 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 Sexton:
    • 37.052928, -76.923294
    • 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 Sexton
  • 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 Surry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Surry County
    • Since Sexton is near Southampton County and also Isle of Wight County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Southampton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Isle of Wight 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 Sexton

Communities Also Named Sexton ...

We found ten communities that are also named Sexton.

Within Virginia, the name Sexton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Washington County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Sexton [Washington County].
    • Indiana
      • Rush County
      • This Sexton is located in Rush County and lies 495 miles [796.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Sexton that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rush County community of Sexton.
    • Iowa
      • Kossuth County
      • This Sexton is located in Kossuth County and lies 995 miles [1,601.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Sexton that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kossuth County community of Sexton.
    • Kansas
      • Barber County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sexton [Barber County].
      • Wallace County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sexton [Wallace County].
      • Wilson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sexton [Wilson County].
    • North Carolina
      • Madison County
      • This Sexton is located in Madison County and lies 327 miles [526.3 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Sexton that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Sexton.
      • Martin County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Sexton [Martin County].
    • Tennessee
      • Giles County
      • This Sexton is located in Giles County and lies 589 miles [947.9 km]<2> to the west of the Sexton that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Giles County community of Sexton.
    • Texas
      • Sabine County
      • This Sexton is located in Sabine County and lies 1,038 miles [1,670.5 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Sexton that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sabine County community of Sexton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sexton ...

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.

  • Alliance
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Alliance is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
  • Berrymans Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Berrymans Corner is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrymans Corner
  • Booth Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Booth Fork is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booth Fork
  • California Crossroads
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Comet
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Comet is located in Isle of Wight County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comet
  • Lazy Oak Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lazy Oak Corner is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lazy Oak Corner
  • Moorings
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Moorings is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorings
  • Piney Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Piney Grove is located in Sussex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
  • Saddlers Crossroads
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Saddlers Crossroads is located in Southampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddlers Crossroads
  • Spring Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Spring Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
  • Sycamore Crossroads
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sycamore Crossroads is located in Isle of Wight County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Crossroads

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Sexton once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Sexton and extending to:

  • Surry, which is the Seat of Surry County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 43 miles [69.2 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Sexton to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full 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 127 miles [204.4 km] to the north (N). 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,971 miles [9,609.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,667 miles [10,729.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,548 miles [7,319.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Sexton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Sexton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Sexton 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.
<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 Sexton 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 Sexton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0529, Longitude: -76.9233       In this case, the coordinates for Sexton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.927 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.199 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.36 degrees.