Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wilsons, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wilsons and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wilsons
- 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 Wilsons:
- 37.139505, -77.866284
- 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 Wilsons
- 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 Dinwiddie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Dinwiddie County
- Since Wilsons is near Nottoway County and also Amelia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nottoway County
- eBird sighting report for Amelia 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 Wilsons ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Wilsons.
Within Virginia, the name Wilsons is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- South Carolina
- Clarendon 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 Wilsons [Clarendon County].
- Lexington County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Wilsons [Lexington County].
- Tennessee
- Anderson 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 Tennessee community of Wilsons [Anderson County].
- Monroe County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Wilsons [Monroe County].
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wilsons ...
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.
- Champ
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Clays Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clays Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clays Corner
- Clays Corner is located in Nottoway County
- Five Forks
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Dinwiddie County
- Forkland ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Harpers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Hebron
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hebron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Hebron is located in Dinwiddie County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hebron
- From Wilsons to Hebron
- Hickory Run
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Run have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Run
- Hickory Run is located in Brunswick County
- Rocky Run
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Spainville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spainville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spainville
- Spainville is located in Nottoway County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Spainville
- From Wilsons to Spainville
How Far From Wilsons 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 Wilsons to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Wilsons and extending to:
- Dinwiddie, which is the Seat of Dinwiddie County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wilsons to Dinwiddie, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 36 miles [57.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 129 miles [207.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,008 miles [9,668.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,707 miles [10,793.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,586 miles [7,380.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wilsons. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Dinwiddie County: www.dinwiddieva.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Wilsons, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Wilsons 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wilsons) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wilsons. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1395, Longitude: -77.8663 |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Wilsons to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.465 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.826 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.705 degrees. |