Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Astor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Astor and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Astor
- 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 Astor:
- 39.240404, -80.141324
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Astor
- 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 Taylor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Taylor County
- Since Astor is near Barbour County and also Harrison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Barbour County
- eBird sighting report for Harrison 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Astor ...
We found six communities that share the name Astor.
Within West Virginia, the name Astor is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
Curious and Interesting Names Near Astor ...
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.
- Bear Mountain
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Mountain
- Bear Mountain is located in Barbour County
- Belgium
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Elk City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Elliotsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elliotsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliotsville
- Elliotsville is located in Taylor County
- Fox Hall ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Hopewell
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Maple Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Lake
- Maple Lake is located in Harrison County
- Oral Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Pepper
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pepper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepper
- Pepper is located in Barbour County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pepper
- From Astor to Pepper
- Pleasant Creek ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pleasant Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Creek
- Pleasant Creek is located in Barbour County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pleasant Creek
- From Astor to Pleasant Creek
- Stone House ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stone House. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone House
- Stone House is located in Taylor County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Stone House
- From Astor to Stone House
How Far From Astor 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 Astor to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Astor and extending to:
- Grafton, which is the Seat of Taylor County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Astor to Grafton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 101 miles [162.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 168 miles [270.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,012 miles [9,675.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,726 miles [10,824.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,602 miles [7,406.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Astor. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Astor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Astor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2404, Longitude: -80.1413 In this case, the coordinates for Astor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Astor 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> | 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 Astor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Astor to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.73 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.584 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.918 degrees. |