RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Albemarle County >> Willoughby >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Willoughby, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willoughby 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 Willoughby:
    • 38.013196, -78.495568
    • 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 Willoughby
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Albemarle County
    • Since Willoughby is near Charlottesville City and also Fluvanna County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlottesville City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fluvanna 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Willoughby

Communities Also Named Willoughby ...

We found six communities that are also named Willoughby.

Within Virginia, the name Willoughby is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Queen Anne's County
      • This Willoughby is located in Queen Anne's County and lies 148 miles [238.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Willoughby that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Queen Anne's County community of Willoughby.
    • Mississippi
      • Newton County
      • This Willoughby is located in Newton County and lies 704 miles [1,133 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Willoughby that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Willoughby.
    • New York
      • Cattaraugus County
      • This Willoughby is located in Cattaraugus County and lies 289 miles [465.1 km]<1> to the north of the Willoughby that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cattaraugus County community of Willoughby.
    • Ohio
      • Lake County
      • This Willoughby is located in Lake County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Willoughby that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Willoughby.
    • South Carolina
      • Florence 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 South Carolina community of Willoughby [Florence County].
    • Vermont
      • Orleans County
      • This Willoughby is located in Orleans County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Willoughby that is located in Albemarle County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orleans County community of Willoughby.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Willoughby ...

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.

  • Barracks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Barracks is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barracks
  • Chapel Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Chapel Hills is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hills
  • Charlottesville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Franklin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Franklin is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Greenfields
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenfields is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfields
  • Hunters Hall
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hunters Hall is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Hall
  • Liberty Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty Hill is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
  • Locust Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Locust Grove is located in Charlottesville City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
  • Pen Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pen Park is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pen Park
  • Queen Charlotte
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Queen Charlotte is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Charlotte
  • Riverrun
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Riverrun is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverrun
  • Rockbrook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rockbrook is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockbrook
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • University Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • University Heights is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
    • Village Square
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Village Square is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Square
    • Vinegar Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Vinegar Hill is located in Charlottesville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinegar Hill
    • Wildwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wildwood is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Willow Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Willow Heights is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Heights

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

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

  • Charlottesville, which is the Seat of Albemarle County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 66 miles [106.2 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Willoughby to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 99 miles [159.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,997 miles [9,651.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,702 miles [10,785.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,579 miles [7,369.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Willoughby) 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 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 Willoughby 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Willoughby 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 Willoughby. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0132, Longitude: -78.4956       In this case, the coordinates for Willoughby have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.796 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.335 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.651 degrees.