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 Athens:
37.424671, -81.015973
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.
We found 28 communities that share the name Athens.
Within West Virginia, the name Athens is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another 28 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 28 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Limestone County
This Athens is located in Limestone County and lies 377 miles [606.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Limestone County community of Athens.
Arkansas
Howard County
This Athens is located in Howard County and lies 755 miles [1,215.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Athens.
California
Los Angeles County
This Athens is located in Los Angeles County and lies 2,090 miles [3,363.5 km]<1> to the west of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Athens.
Georgia
Clarke County
This Athens is located in Clarke County and lies 273 miles [439.4 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarke County community of Athens.
Illinois
Menard County
This Athens is located in Menard County and lies 500 miles [804.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menard County community of Athens.
Indiana
Fulton County
This Athens is located in Fulton County and lies 370 miles [595.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Athens.
Kansas
Jewell County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Athens [Jewell County].
Woodson County
This Athens is located in Woodson County and lies 797 miles [1,282.6 km]<1> to the west of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodson County community of Athens.
Kentucky
Fayette County
This Athens is located in Fayette County and lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Athens.
Louisiana
Claiborne Parish
This Athens is located in Claiborne Parish and lies 753 miles [1,211.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Claiborne Parish community of Athens.
Maine
Somerset County
This Athens is located in Somerset County and lies 783 miles [1,260.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Athens.
Michigan
Calhoun County
This Athens is located in Calhoun County and lies 392 miles [630.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Athens.
Minnesota
Isanti County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Athens [Isanti County].
Mississippi
Monroe County
This Athens is located in Monroe County and lies 483 miles [777.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Athens.
Missouri
Clark County
This Athens is located in Clark County and lies 612 miles [984.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Athens.
Nebraska
Richardson County
This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Athens [Richardson County].
Nevada
Nye County
This community is historic<3> and although located in Nye County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Athens.
New York
Greene County
This Athens is located in Greene County and lies 507 miles [815.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Athens.
North Carolina
Robeson County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Athens [Robeson County].
Ohio
Athens County
This Athens is located in Athens County and lies 144 miles [231.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Athens.
Ontario
This Athens lies 562 miles [904.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
Pennsylvania
Bradford County
This Athens is located in Bradford County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bradford County community of Athens.
Tennessee
McMinn County
This Athens is located in McMinn County and lies 241 miles [387.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the McMinn County community of Athens.
Texas
Henderson County
This Athens is located in Henderson County and lies 912 miles [1,467.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Athens.
Utah
Salt Lake County
This Athens is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,671 miles [2,689.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Athens.
Vermont
Windham County
This Athens is located in Windham County and lies 593 miles [954.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Windham County community of Athens.
Virginia
Caroline County
This Athens is located in Caroline County and lies 200 miles [321.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caroline County community of Athens.
Wisconsin
Marathon County
This Athens is located in Marathon County and lies 704 miles [1,133 km]<1> to the northwest of the Athens that is located in Mercer County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marathon County community of Athens.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Athens ...
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.
Blake ‑ Historic (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
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 town such as Athens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Athens and extending to:
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Athens to Charleston, with an average speed<7>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 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 238 miles [383 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,129 miles [9,863.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,838 miles [11,004.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,714 miles [7,586.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Athens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4247, Longitude: -81.0160
<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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Athens 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 Athens, 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>
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.
<8>
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 Athens to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.307 degrees.
<10>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.972 degrees.
<11>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.898 degrees.