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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Arthurdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Arthurdale 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 Arthurdale:
    • 39.495046, -79.815036
    • 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 Arthurdale
  • 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 Preston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Preston County
    • Since Arthurdale is near Monongalia County and also Taylor County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monongalia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor 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 Arthurdale

Curious and Interesting Names Near Arthurdale ...

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.

  • Bull Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Bull Run is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Run
  • Cascade
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Cascade is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Gum Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Gum Spring is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
  • Herring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Herring is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herring
  • Kanes Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Kanes Creek is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanes Creek
  • Masontown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Mountain View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain View is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Oriole ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Oriole is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oriole
  • Reedsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Threefork Bridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Arthurdale and extending to:

  • Kingwood, which is the Seat of Preston County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 125 miles [201.2 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Arthurdale to Charleston, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 154 miles [247.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,988 miles [9,636.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,702 miles [10,785.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,577 miles [7,366 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Arthurdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Arthurdale 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 Arthurdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4950, Longitude: -79.8150    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.521 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.385 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.685 degrees.