RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of West Virginia >> Mineral County >> Ackerman >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ackerman, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ackerman 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 Ackerman:
    • 39.585645, -78.820576
    • 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 Ackerman
  • 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 Mineral County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mineral County
    • Since Ackerman is near Allegany County and also Bedford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegany County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford 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 Ackerman

Communities Also Named Ackerman ...

We found three communities that are also named Ackerman.

Within West Virginia, the name Ackerman is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Logan County
      • This Ackerman is located in Logan County and lies 1,283 miles [2,064.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ackerman that is located in Mineral County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Ackerman.
    • Mississippi
      • Choctaw County
      • This Ackerman is located in Choctaw County and lies 719 miles [1,157.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Ackerman that is located in Mineral County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Choctaw County community of Ackerman.
    • Ohio
      • Franklin County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Ackerman [Franklin County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ackerman ...

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.

  • Bowling Green
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Bowling Green is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowling Green
  • Brady
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Brady is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
  • Cedar Cliff
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Cedar Cliff is located in Mineral County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Cliff
  • Frost ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Frost is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
  • Knobmount
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Knobmount is located in Mineral County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobmount
  • Mexico
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mexico is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
  • Porters ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Porters is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters
  • Red Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Hill is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Short Gap
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Short Gap is located in Mineral County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Gap
  • Sixmile House
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sixmile House is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile House
  • Triple Lakes
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Triple Lakes is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triple Lakes

How Far From Ackerman to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ackerman 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 community of Ackerman once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ackerman and extending to:

  • Keyser, which is the Seat of Mineral County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ackerman to Keyser, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 173 miles [278.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 106 miles [170.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,943 miles [9,564.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,655 miles [10,710.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,530 miles [7,290.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ackerman) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Ackerman, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Ackerman 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 Ackerman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5856, Longitude: -78.8206       In this case, the coordinates for Ackerman have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.914 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.709 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.218 degrees.