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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Slate, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Slate 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 Slate:
    • 37.305667, -81.949013
    • 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 Slate
  • 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 Buchanan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
    • Since Slate is near McDowell County and also Pike County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McDowell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pike 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 Slate

Communities Also Named Slate ...

We found six communities that are also named Slate.

Within Virginia, the name Slate is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Saint Clair 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 Alabama community of Slate [Saint Clair County].
    • Arkansas
      • Saline 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 Arkansas community of Slate [Saline County].
    • Indiana
      • Jennings 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 Slate [Jennings County].
    • Kansas
      • Rooks 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 Kansas community of Slate [Rooks County].
    • North Carolina
      • Stokes 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 North Carolina community of Slate [Stokes County].
    • West Virginia
      • Wood County
      • This Slate is located in Wood County and lies 129 miles [207.6 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Slate that is located in Buchanan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wood County community of Slate.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Slate ...

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.

  • Dan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dan is located in McDowell County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dan
  • Dwight
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Dwight is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
  • Hanger
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hanger is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanger
  • Height
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Height is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Height
  • Home Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Home Creek is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Creek
  • Horn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Horn is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn
  • Janey
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Janey is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janey
  • Longbottom
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Longbottom is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longbottom
  • Marvin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Marvin is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mount Heron
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Mount Heron is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Heron
    • Peapatch
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Peapatch is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peapatch
    • Rockridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Rockridge is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockridge
    • Royal City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Royal City is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal City
    • Shack Mills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Shack Mills is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shack Mills
    • Stacy
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Stacy is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy

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

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

  • Grundy, which is the Seat of Buchanan County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 248 miles [399.1 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Slate 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 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 288 miles [463.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,173 miles [9,934.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,884 miles [11,078.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,760 miles [7,660.5 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 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 Slate 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Slate) 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 Slate 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 Slate. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3057, Longitude: -81.9490       In this case, the coordinates for Slate have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.867 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.594 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.326 degrees.