Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Thurston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thurston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Thurston
- 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 Thurston:
- 38.083748, -78.693630
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Thurston
- 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 Albemarle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Albemarle County
- Since Thurston is near Nelson County and also Waynesboro City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nelson County
- eBird sighting report for Waynesboro City
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Thurston ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Thurston.
Within Virginia, the name Thurston is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- Douglas County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Douglas County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Thurston.
- Thurston County
- This Thurston is located in Thurston County and lies 989 miles [1,591.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Thurston that is located in Albemarle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thurston County community of Thurston.
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Thurston ...
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.
- Broad Axe ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Freetown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Greenwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Greenwood is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenwood <5>
- Ivy
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy
- Ivy is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ivy <5>
- Ivy Meadows
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivy Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Meadows
- Ivy Meadows is located in Albemarle County
- Ivy Oaks
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Ivy Woods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Peacock Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peacock Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock Hill
- Peacock Hill is located in Albemarle County
- Skyline Crest
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skyline Crest have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Crest
- Skyline Crest is located in Albemarle County
- Whispering Pines
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
- Whispering Pines is located in Albemarle County
- Yancey Mills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yancey Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancey Mills
- Yancey Mills is located in Albemarle County
How Far From Thurston 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 Thurston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Thurston and extending to:
- Charlottesville, which is the Seat of Albemarle County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Thurston to Charlottesville, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 78 miles [125.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 105 miles [169 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,002 miles [9,659.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,708 miles [10,795.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,585 miles [7,378.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thurston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Albemarle County: www.albemarle.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thurston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thurston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0837, Longitude: -78.6936 In this case, the coordinates for Thurston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Thurston 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> | 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 Thurston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Thurston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.909 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.475 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.708 degrees. |