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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Simmonsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Simmonsville 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 Simmonsville:
    • 37.384474, -80.361731
    • 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 Simmonsville
  • 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 Craig County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Craig County
    • Since Simmonsville is near Monroe County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Simmonsville

Communities Also Named Simmonsville ...

We found six communities that are also named Simmonsville.

Within Virginia, the name Simmonsville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Pike County
      • This Simmonsville is located in Pike County and lies 715 miles [1,150.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Simmonsville that is located in Craig County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Simmonsville.
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence County
      • This Simmonsville is located in Providence County and lies 561 miles [902.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Simmonsville that is located in Craig County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Providence County community of Simmonsville.
    • South Carolina
      • Berkeley County
      • This Simmonsville is located in Berkeley County and lies 288 miles [463.5 km]<1> to the south of the Simmonsville that is located in Craig County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkeley County community of Simmonsville.
      • Georgetown County
      • This Simmonsville is located in Georgetown County and lies 281 miles [452.2 km] to the south southeast of the Simmonsville that is located in Craig County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Georgetown County community of Simmonsville.
    • Texas
      • Bell 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 Texas community of Simmonsville [Bell County].
      • Newton County
      • This Simmonsville is located in Newton County and lies 877 miles [1,411.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Simmonsville that is located in Craig County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Simmonsville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Simmonsville ...

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.

  • Captain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Cedar Orchard
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Orchard is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Orchard
  • Clover Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Clover Valley is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Valley
  • Craig Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Craig Springs is located in Craig County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig Springs
  • Gunn
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Gunn is located in Craig County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunn
  • Hunters Ridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Hunters Ridge is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Ridge
  • Knob Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Knob Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob Hill
  • Maggie
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Maggie is located in Craig County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maggie
  • Meadow Brook
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Meadow Brook is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook
  • Meadow Run
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Meadow Run is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Run
  • Mountain Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Mountain View
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain View is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Murphy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Murphy is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
    • Orchard View
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Orchard View is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard View
    • Patrick Henry Place
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Patrick Henry Place is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patrick Henry Place
    • Pheasant Run
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Pheasant Run is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Run
    • Silver Leaf
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Silver Leaf is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Leaf
    • Sinking Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sinking Creek is located in Craig County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinking Creek
    • Stonegate
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Stonegate is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
    • Sundance Ridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Sundance Ridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sundance Ridge
    • Sundance Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Sundance Village is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sundance Village
    • University Terrace
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • University Terrace is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Terrace
    • Valley Mill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Valley Mill is located in Craig County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Mill

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

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

  • New Castle, which is the Seat of Craig County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Simmonsville to New Castle, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 160 miles [257.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 208 miles [334.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,104 miles [9,823.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,810 miles [10,959.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,687 miles [7,543 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Simmonsville) 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 Simmonsville 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.
<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 Simmonsville 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 Simmonsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3845, Longitude: -80.3617    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.918 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.522 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.639 degrees.