RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> West Norfolk >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Norfolk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Norfolk 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 West Norfolk:
    • 36.864037, -76.349388
    • 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 West Norfolk
  • 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 West Norfolk

Communities Also Named West Norfolk ...

We found two communities that are also named West Norfolk.

There is one other community in Virginia that is also named West Norfolk.

Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named West Norfolk in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Virginia ...
    • Norfolk City
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of West Norfolk [Norfolk City].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Litchfield County
      • This West Norfolk is located in Litchfield County and lies 391 miles [629.3 km]<2> to the north northeast.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Litchfield County community of West Norfolk.

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Norfolk ...

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.

  • Bruce
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bruce is located in Chesapeake City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
  • Cedar Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Point is located in Portsmouth City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Point
  • Churchland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Churchland is located in Chesapeake City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchland
  • Edgefield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Edgefield is located in Portsmouth City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgefield
  • Edgewater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgewater is located in Norfolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Fairwater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairwater is located in Norfolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairwater
  • Green Acres
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Acres is located in Chesapeake City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Green Meadow Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Meadow Point is located in Chesapeake City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadow Point
  • Greenfield Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Greenfield Farms is located in Portsmouth City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Farms
  • Grove Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Grove Park is located in Portsmouth City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • Kingman
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Kingman is located in Portsmouth City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingman
  • Long Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Point is located in Portsmouth City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Mayflower Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Mayflower Park is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Park
    • Oregon Gardens
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Oregon Gardens is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon Gardens
    • Peachtree
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Peachtree is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peachtree
    • River Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • River Park is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Park
    • River Shore
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • River Shore is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Shore
    • Siesta Gardens
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Siesta Gardens is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siesta Gardens
    • Silverwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Silverwood is located in Chesapeake City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverwood
    • Stone Bridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Stone Bridge is located in Chesapeake City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Bridge
    • Twin Pines
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Twin Pines is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Pines
    • Windy Pines
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Windy Pines is located in Portsmouth City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy Pines

How Far From West Norfolk to ...

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 75 miles [120.7 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from West Norfolk 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 145 miles [233.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 5,954 miles [9,582 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,648 miles [10,698.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,529 miles [7,288.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 West Norfolk 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 . 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.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- West Norfolk) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 West Norfolk 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 West Norfolk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8640, Longitude: -76.3494       In this case, the coordinates for West Norfolk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.609 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.808 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.204 degrees.