RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Pittsylvania County >> Stony Mill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Stony Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Stony Mill 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 Stony Mill:
    • 36.639582, -79.543917
    • 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 Stony Mill
  • 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 Pittsylvania County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pittsylvania County
    • Since Stony Mill is near Danville City and also Rockingham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Danville City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockingham 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 Stony Mill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Stony Mill ...

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.

  • Berry Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Berry Hill is located in Pittsylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry Hill
  • Cascade
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cascade is located in Pittsylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Cedar Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Park is located in Danville City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Park
  • Dan River ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Dan River is located in Pittsylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dan River
  • Hickory Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Rockingham County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Major Court
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Major Court is located in Danville City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Major Court
  • Mount Cross
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mount Cross is located in Pittsylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Cross
  • New Design
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • New Design is located in Danville City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Design
  • Olde Hunting Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Olde Hunting Hills is located in Pittsylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olde Hunting Hills
  • Pine Crest
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Pine Crest is located in Danville City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
  • Pleasant Gap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Gap is located in Pittsylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gap
  • Sandy River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Sandy River is located in Pittsylvania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy River
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Sandy Shores
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sandy Shores is located in Danville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Shores
    • Soapstone
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Soapstone is located in Pittsylvania County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soapstone
    • Stokesland
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Stokesland is located in Danville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokesland
    • Virginia Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Virginia Hills is located in Danville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
    • Woodlake Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Woodlake Park is located in Pittsylvania County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlake Park

How Far From Stony Mill to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Stony Mill to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Stony Mill and extending to:

  • Chatham, which is the Seat of Pittsylvania County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Stony Mill to Chatham, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 131 miles [210.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 207 miles [333.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,102 miles [9,820.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,803 miles [10,948.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,681 miles [7,533.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Stony Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Stony Mill 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 Stony Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6396, Longitude: -79.5439       In this case, the coordinates for Stony Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.454 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.881 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.548 degrees.