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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Thomastown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thomastown 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 Thomastown:
    • 38.008181, -79.840609
    • 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 Thomastown
  • 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 Bath County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bath County
    • Since Thomastown is near Alleghany County and also Pocahontas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alleghany County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pocahontas 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 Thomastown

Communities Also Named Thomastown ...

We found four communities that are also named Thomastown.

Within Virginia, the name Thomastown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Madison Parish
      • This Thomastown is located in Madison Parish and lies 743 miles [1,195.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Thomastown that is located in Bath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison Parish community of Thomastown.
    • Massachusetts
      • Plymouth County
      • This Thomastown is located in Plymouth County and lies 545 miles [877.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Thomastown that is located in Bath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Plymouth County community of Thomastown.
    • Mississippi
      • Leake County
      • This Thomastown is located in Leake County and lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Thomastown that is located in Bath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leake County community of Thomastown.
    • Ohio
      • Summit County
      • This Thomastown is located in Summit County and lies 227 miles [365.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Thomastown that is located in Bath County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summit County community of Thomastown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thomastown ...

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.

  • Chimney Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chimney Run is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Run
  • Dunns ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Dunns is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunns
  • Healing Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Healing Springs is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healing Springs
  • Hot Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Mitchelltown
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Mitchelltown is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchelltown
  • Mountain Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mountain Grove is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
  • Switch Back
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Switch Back is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Switch Back
  • Tinkertown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Tinkertown is located in Bath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tinkertown
  • Warm Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Warm Springs, which is the Seat of Bath County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 135 miles [217.3 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Thomastown to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 163 miles [262.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 6,054 miles [9,743 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,762 miles [10,882.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,639 miles [7,465.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Thomastown) 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 Thomastown 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 Thomastown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0082, Longitude: -79.8406       In this case, the coordinates for Thomastown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.592 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.243 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.214 degrees.