RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Fairfax County >> Springfield Station >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Springfield Station, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Springfield Station 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 Springfield Station:
    • 38.770669, -77.173592
    • 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 Springfield Station
  • 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Springfield Station is near Alexandria City and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington 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 Springfield Station

Communities Also Named Springfield Station ...

We found two communities that are also named Springfield Station.

Within Virginia, the name Springfield Station is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Hampshire
      • Sullivan 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 New Hampshire community of Springfield Station [Sullivan County].
    • Ohio
      • Clark County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Springfield Station [Clark County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Springfield Station ...

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.

  • Alpine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Alpine is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Cannon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cannon is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
  • Cedar Crest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Duke Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Duke Gardens is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Gardens
  • Governors Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Governors Grove is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Governors Grove
  • Hayfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hayfield is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
  • Hillbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hillbrook is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillbrook
  • Homewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Homewood is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Indian Run Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Indian Run Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run Park
  • Indian Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Indian Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Kings Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kings Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
  • Mount Pleasant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Raceway Farms
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Raceway Farms is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raceway Farms
    • Ridgeview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Ridgeview is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
    • Rollingwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rollingwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
    • Rose Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Rose Hill is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
    • Seminary Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Seminary Valley is located in Alexandria City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Valley
    • Silver Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Silver Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
    • Varsity Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Varsity Park is located in Alexandria City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varsity Park
    • Virginia Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Virginia Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
    • Willow Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run
    • Woodlawn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodlawn is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Springfield Station and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<3> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Springfield Station to Richmond, with an average speed<4>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 11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,909 miles [9,509.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,613 miles [10,642.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,490 miles [7,226 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Springfield Station 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>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 Springfield Station, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Springfield Station) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Springfield Station 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 Springfield Station. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7707, Longitude: -77.1736       In this case, the coordinates for Springfield Station have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.978 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.52 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.82 degrees.