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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Withers, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Withers 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 Withers:
    • 36.726219, -82.104576
    • 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 Withers
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Withers is near Russell County and also Bristol City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bristol 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 Withers

Communities Also Named Withers ...

We found six communities that are also named Withers.

Within Virginia, the name Withers is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Clinch County
      • This Withers is located in Clinch County and lies 407 miles [655 km]<1> to the south of the Withers that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clinch County community of Withers.
    • Kentucky
      • Rockcastle 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 Kentucky community of Withers [Rockcastle County].
    • North Carolina
      • Stokes 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 North Carolina community of Withers [Stokes County].
    • South Carolina
      • Horry 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 Withers [Horry County].
    • Texas
      • Bexar County
      • This Withers is located in Bexar County and lies 1,078 miles [1,734.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Withers that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of Withers.
    • West Virginia
      • Gilmer County
      • This Withers is located in Gilmer County and lies 162 miles [260.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Withers that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gilmer County community of Withers.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Withers ...

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.

  • Bolton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bolton is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
  • Booker
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Booker is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booker
  • Butts
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Butts is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts
  • Craigs Mill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Craigs Mill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigs Mill
  • Evergreen Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Evergreen Hills is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Hills
  • Fractionville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fractionville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fractionville
  • Leonard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Leonard is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
  • Lone Star
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Lone Star is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Lowland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lowland is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowland
  • Meadow Crest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Meadow Crest is located in Bristol City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Crest
  • Oak Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Ravens Nest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Ravens Nest is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravens Nest
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Rocktown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rocktown is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocktown
    • Rush Corner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rush Corner is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Corner
    • Rust Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Rust Hollow is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rust Hollow
    • Shadow Valley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Shadow Valley is located in Bristol City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Valley
    • Shady Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Shady Grove is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Virginia Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Virginia Hills is located in Bristol City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
    • Walnut Grove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Bristol City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

How Far From Withers to ...

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

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

  • Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the East.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 263 miles [423.3 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Withers to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 314 miles [505.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,206 miles [9,987.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,915 miles [11,128.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,791 miles [7,710.4 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Withers) 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 Withers 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 Withers 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 Withers. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7262, Longitude: -82.1046       In this case, the coordinates for Withers have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.963 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.62 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.566 degrees.