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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alvord, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alvord 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 Alvord:
    • 38.807588, -81.349009
    • 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 Alvord
  • 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Since Alvord is near Wirt County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wirt County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Alvord

Communities Also Named Alvord ...

We found three communities that are also named Alvord.

Within West Virginia, the name Alvord is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Lyon County
      • This Alvord is located in Lyon County and lies 837 miles [1,347 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Alvord that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyon County community of Alvord.
    • Missouri
      • Mercer 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 Missouri community of Alvord [Mercer County].
    • Texas
      • Wise County
      • This Alvord is located in Wise County and lies 984 miles [1,583.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Alvord that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wise County community of Alvord.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alvord ...

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.

  • Clover
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Clover is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover
  • Grace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Grace is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
  • Green Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Green Acres is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Leaning Oak
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Leaning Oak is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaning Oak
  • Leo ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Leo is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leo
  • Nancy Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Nancy Run is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy Run
  • Quiet Vale
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Quiet Vale is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Vale
  • Reedyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Reedyville is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedyville
  • Speed
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Speed is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speed
  • Walnut Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

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

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

  • Spencer, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 35 miles [56.3 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Alvord to Charleston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 231 miles [371.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,081 miles [9,786.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,796 miles [10,937.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,671 miles [7,517.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alvord) 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 Alvord, 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 Alvord 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 Alvord. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8076, Longitude: -81.3490       In this case, the coordinates for Alvord have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.479 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.372 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.592 degrees.