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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Springfield, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Springfield and the surrounding area.
- 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 Springfield:
- 38.772614, -77.221094
- 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 Springfield
- 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
- Since West Springfield is near Alexandria City and also Fairfax City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria City
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax 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 West Springfield
Communities Also Named West Springfield ...
We found five communities that are also named West Springfield.
Within Virginia, the name West Springfield is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Massachusetts
- Hampden County
- This West Springfield is located in Hampden County and lies 333 miles [535.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the West Springfield that is located in Fairfax County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampden County community of West Springfield.
- New Hampshire
- Sullivan County
- This West Springfield is located in Sullivan County and lies 422 miles [679.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the West Springfield that is located in Fairfax County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of West Springfield.
- Ohio
- Clark County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of West Springfield [Clark County].
- Pennsylvania
- Erie County
- This West Springfield is located in Erie County and lies 277 miles [445.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the West Springfield that is located in Fairfax County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of West Springfield.
- Vermont
- Windsor County
- This West Springfield is located in Windsor County and lies 396 miles [637.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the West Springfield that is located in Fairfax County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Windsor County community of West Springfield.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Springfield ...
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.
- Alpine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Alpine is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Camelot
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Camelot is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
- Cedar Crest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
- Chestnut Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Chestnut Hill is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
- Doveville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Doveville is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doveville
- Five Forks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Five Forks is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Hayfield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Hayfield is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
- Hillbrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hillbrook is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillbrook
- Homewood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Homewood is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
- Hunts Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hunts Village is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Village
- Indian Run Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Indian Run Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run Park
- Indian Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Indian Springs is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
- Continue List (7 more) ...
- Kings Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Kings Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
- Lee Forest
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lee Forest is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Forest
- Raceway Farms
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Raceway Farms is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raceway Farms
- Red Fox Forest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Red Fox Forest is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Fox Forest
- Rollingwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Rollingwood is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
- Willow Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run
- Willow Woods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Willow Woods is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods
How Far From West Springfield 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 West Springfield to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Springfield and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from West Springfield 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 13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take 6 hours.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,911 miles [9,512.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,615 miles [10,645.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,493 miles [7,230.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- West Springfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 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 Springfield 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> | 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 Springfield 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 Springfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7726, Longitude: -77.2211 In this case, the coordinates for West Springfield have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.006 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.552 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.839 degrees. |
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