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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Stafford Station, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Stafford 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 Stafford Station:
    • 38.505300, -77.534500
    • 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 Stafford 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 Stafford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stafford County
    • Since Stafford Station is near Fauquier County and also Prince William County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fauquier County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William 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 Stafford Station

Communities Also Named Stafford Station ...

We found two communities that are also named Stafford Station.

Within Virginia, the name Stafford Station is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Tolland 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 Connecticut community of Stafford Station [Tolland County].
    • New York
      • Genesee County
      • This Stafford Station is located in Genesee County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km]<2> to the north of the Stafford Station that is located in Stafford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Genesee County community of Stafford Station.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Stafford 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.

  • Apple Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Apple Grove is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
  • Davids Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Davids Crossroads is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davids Crossroads
  • Eagles Nest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Eagles Nest is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagles Nest
  • Hunters Pond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hunters Pond is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Pond
  • Ivyglen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Ivyglen is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivyglen
  • Kings Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kings Crest is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Crest
  • Lake Arrowhead
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Lake Arrowhead is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Arrowhead
  • Red Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Red Hill is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Rolling Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Rosedale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Rosedale is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Roseville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Roseville is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
  • Roseville Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Roseville Heights is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville Heights
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Ruby
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Ruby is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
    • Seven Lakes
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Seven Lakes is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Lakes
    • Skidmore Corner
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Skidmore Corner is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidmore Corner
    • Skywoods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Skywoods is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skywoods
    • Walnut Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Walnut Ridge is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Ridge

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

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

  • Stafford, which is the Seat of Stafford County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 66 miles [106.2 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Stafford Station to Richmond, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 38 miles [61.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,935 miles [9,551.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,640 miles [10,686 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,517 miles [7,269.4 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Stafford 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>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 from Point A (ie- Stafford Station) 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 Stafford 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 Stafford Station. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5053, Longitude: -77.5345       In this case, the coordinates for Stafford Station have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.206 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.738 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.071 degrees.