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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Somerton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Somerton 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 Somerton:
    • 36.568208, -76.751346
    • 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 Somerton
  • 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 Somerton

Communities Also Named Somerton ...

We found three communities that are also named Somerton.

Within Virginia, the name Somerton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Yuma County
      • This Somerton is located in Yuma County and lies 2,161 miles [3,477.8 km]<1> to the west.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yuma County community of Somerton.
    • Ohio
      • Belmont County
      • This Somerton is located in Belmont County and lies 330 miles [531.1 km]<1> to the northwest.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of Somerton.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia County
      • This Somerton is located in Philadelphia County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the north northeast.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Philadelphia County community of Somerton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Somerton ...

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.

  • Box Elder
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Box Elder is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Box Elder
  • Drum Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Drum Hill is located in Gates County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drum Hill
  • Eleanors Crossroads
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Eleanors Crossroads is located in Gates County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleanors Crossroads
  • Factory Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Factory Hill is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factory Hill
  • Gates
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Holland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Holland is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
  • Kingsdale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingsdale is located in Southampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsdale
  • Leesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Leesville is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
  • Oak Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Savages Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Savages Crossroads is located in Gates County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savages Crossroads
  • Tarheel
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Tarheel is located in Gates County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarheel

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Somerton to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 161 miles [259.1 km] to the north (N). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,984 miles [9,630.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,678 miles [10,747.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,559 miles [7,337 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- Somerton) 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 Somerton 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 Somerton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5682, Longitude: -76.7513       In this case, the coordinates for Somerton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.852 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.04 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.469 degrees.