RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Wise County >> Toms Creek >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Toms Creek, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Toms Creek 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 Toms Creek:
    • 36.966770, -82.454595
    • 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 Toms Creek
  • 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 Wise County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
    • Since Toms Creek is near Dickenson County and also Norton City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dickenson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norton 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Toms Creek

Communities Also Named Toms Creek ...

We found three communities that are also named Toms Creek.

Within Virginia, the name Toms Creek is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Stephens County
      • This Toms Creek is located in Stephens County and lies 177 miles [284.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Toms Creek that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephens County community of Toms Creek.
    • North Carolina
      • McDowell County
      • This Toms Creek is located in McDowell County and lies 87 miles [140 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Toms Creek that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McDowell County community of Toms Creek.
    • Tennessee
      • Perry County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Toms Creek [Perry County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Toms Creek ...

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.

  • Bondtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Bondtown is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondtown
  • Crab Orchard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crab Orchard is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
  • Cranes Nest
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Cranes Nest is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranes Nest
  • Dry Fork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dry Fork is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Fork
  • Flat Top
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Flat Top is located in Dickenson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Top
  • Flatwoods
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Flatwoods is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Herald
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Herald is located in Dickenson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herald
  • Hurricane
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hurricane is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane
  • Lyons
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lyons is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
  • Maytown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Maytown is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maytown
  • Riverview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Riverview is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
  • Round Top
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Round Top is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Top
  • Rural
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rural is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural

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

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

  • Wise, which is the Seat of Wise County, lies just to the West.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 278 miles [447.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Toms Creek to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 323 miles [519.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,210 miles [9,994 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,920 miles [11,136.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,796 miles [7,718.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Toms Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Toms Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Toms Creek 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 Toms Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9668, Longitude: -82.4546       In this case, the coordinates for Toms Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.172 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.894 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.64 degrees.