Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Whitby, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whitby and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Whitby
- 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 Whitby:
- 36.616810, -78.208329
- 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 Whitby
- 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 Mecklenburg County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg County
- Since Whitby is near Warren County and also Vance County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Warren County
- eBird sighting report for Vance 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Whitby ...
We found four communities that share the name Whitby.
Within Virginia, the name Whitby is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- North Dakota
- Ontario
- This Whitby lies 504 miles [811.1 km]<2> to the north of the Whitby that is located in Mecklenburg County.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Whitby ...
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.
- Antlers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Baskerville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baskerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baskerville
- Baskerville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Busy Bee Corner
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Busy Bee Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busy Bee Corner
- Busy Bee Corner is located in Mecklenburg County
- Cedar Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Cedar Grove is located in Mecklenburg County
- Dockery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Elamtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Gills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Redlawn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Roberts Ferry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roberts Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Ferry
- Roberts Ferry is located in Mecklenburg County
- Union Level
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Level
- Union Level is located in Mecklenburg County
How Far From Whitby 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 Whitby to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Whitby once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Whitby and extending to:
- Boydton, which is the Seat of Mecklenburg County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Whitby to Boydton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 76 miles [122.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 169 miles [272 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,045 miles [9,728.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,743 miles [10,851.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,623 miles [7,440 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 Whitby 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Whitby) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whitby. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6168, Longitude: -78.2083 In this case, the coordinates for Whitby have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Whitby, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Whitby to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.682 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.995 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.023 degrees. |