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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Arbutus Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Arbutus Park 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 Arbutus Park:
    • 39.266479, -80.323700
    • 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 Arbutus Park
  • 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 Harrison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harrison County
    • Since Arbutus Park is near Taylor County and also Barbour County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour 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 Arbutus Park

Curious and Interesting Names Near Arbutus Park ...

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.

  • Chestnut Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Chestnut Hills is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
  • Glen Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Glen Falls is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Falls
  • Gore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gore is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gore
  • Industrial
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Industrial is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial
  • Liberty
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Lodgeville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lodgeville is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodgeville
  • Nutter Fort
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Nutter Fort is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutter Fort
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,501 people
  • Quiet Dell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Quiet Dell is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Dell
  • Summit Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Summit Park is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Park

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Arbutus Park and extending to:

  • Clarksburg, which is the Seat of Harrison County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Arbutus Park to Charleston, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 178 miles [286.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,019 miles [9,686.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,733 miles [10,835.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,608 miles [7,415.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Arbutus Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Arbutus Park 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 Arbutus Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2665, Longitude: -80.3237       In this case, the coordinates for Arbutus Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.84 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.713 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.988 degrees.