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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Stapleton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Stapleton 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 Stapleton:
    • 37.469032, -78.978632
    • 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 Stapleton
  • 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 Amherst County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amherst County
    • Since Stapleton is near Appomattox County and also Campbell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Appomattox County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Campbell 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 Stapleton

Communities Also Named Stapleton ...

We found nine communities that are also named Stapleton.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named Stapleton.

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

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • Hanover County
      • This Stapleton is located in Hanover County and lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the east of the Stapleton that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hanover County community of Stapleton.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Baldwin County
      • This Stapleton is located in Baldwin County and lies 684 miles [1,100.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Stapleton that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baldwin County community of Stapleton.
    • Colorado
      • Montezuma County
      • This Stapleton is located in Montezuma County and lies 1,605 miles [2,583 km]<1> to the west of the Stapleton that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montezuma County community of Stapleton.
    • Georgia
      • Jefferson County
      • This Stapleton is located in Jefferson County and lies 353 miles [568.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Stapleton that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Stapleton.
      • Johnson 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 Georgia community of Stapleton [Johnson County].
    • Indiana
      • Dubois 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 Indiana community of Stapleton [Dubois County].
    • Nebraska
      • Logan County
      • This Stapleton is located in Logan County and lies 1,177 miles [1,894.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Stapleton that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Stapleton.
    • New York
      • Richmond County
      • This Stapleton is located in Richmond County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Stapleton that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richmond County community of Stapleton.
    • Oregon
      • Polk County
      • This Stapleton is located in Polk County and lies 2,325 miles [3,741.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Stapleton that is located in Amherst County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Stapleton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Stapleton ...

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.

  • Coolwell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Coolwell is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
  • Deacon ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Deacon is located in Campbell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deacon
  • Great Oaks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Great Oaks is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Oaks
  • Joshua Falls
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Joshua Falls is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua Falls
  • Kelly
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Kelly is located in Campbell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
  • Lakeview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Lakeview is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Martins Shop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Martins Shop is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Shop
  • Martins Store
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Martins Store is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Store
  • Mineral ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mineral is located in Appomattox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
  • Old Stage Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Old Stage Run is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Stage Run
  • Prices Store
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Prices Store is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prices Store
  • Sandy Bottom
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Sandy Bottom is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Six Mile
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Six Mile is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Mile
    • Stonewall
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Stonewall is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
    • Stonewall Mills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Stonewall Mills is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall Mills
    • Union Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Union Hill is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • Viking Fiord
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Viking Fiord is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking Fiord

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

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

  • Amherst, which is the Seat of Amherst County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Stapleton 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 144 miles [231.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,041 miles [9,722 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,745 miles [10,855 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,622 miles [7,438.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Stapleton) 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 Stapleton 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 Stapleton 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 Stapleton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4690, Longitude: -78.9786       In this case, the coordinates for Stapleton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.10 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.601 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.04 degrees.