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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shortsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shortsville 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 Shortsville:
    • 36.772334, -81.907625
    • 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 Shortsville
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Shortsville is near Russell County and also Smyth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smyth 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 Shortsville

Communities Also Named Shortsville ...

We found two communities that are also named Shortsville.

Within Virginia, the name Shortsville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Ontario County
      • This Shortsville is located in Ontario County and lies 493 miles [793.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Shortsville that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontario County community of Shortsville.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Tioga County
      • This Shortsville is located in Tioga County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Shortsville that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tioga County community of Shortsville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shortsville ...

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.

  • Butts
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Butts is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts
  • Clarksville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Clarksville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
  • Clinchburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Clinchburg is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinchburg
  • Corn Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Corn Valley is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corn Valley
  • Fractionville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fractionville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fractionville
  • Greenfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenfield is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Lowland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lowland is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowland
  • Meadowview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Mock Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mock Mill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mock Mill
  • Price Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Price Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Hill
  • Rockdell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Rockdell is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdell
  • Shady Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Shady Grove is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Tumbling Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Tumbling Creek is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumbling Creek

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

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

  • Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 251 miles [403.9 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Shortsville to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 303 miles [487.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,196 miles [9,971.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,904 miles [11,110.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,780 miles [7,692.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Shortsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Shortsville 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 Shortsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7723, Longitude: -81.9076       In this case, the coordinates for Shortsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.845 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.492 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.471 degrees.