Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Atlas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Atlas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Atlas
- 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 Atlas:
- 38.977598, -80.279807
- 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 Atlas
- 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 Upshur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Upshur County
- Since Atlas is near Lewis County and also Barbour County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lewis County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Atlas ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Atlas.
Within West Virginia, the name Atlas is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Belmont County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Atlas [Belmont County].
- Portage County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Atlas [Portage County].
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Atlas ...
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.
- Berlin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Deanville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Freeman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - French Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for French Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Creek
- French Creek is located in Upshur County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for French Creek <5>
- Georgetown
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Georgetown is located in Lewis County
- Heavener Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heavener Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heavener Grove
- Heavener Grove is located in Upshur County
- Heavner ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Ivy
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Red Rock
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Rocky Ford
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
- Rocky Ford is located in Upshur County
- Ruraldale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
How Far From Atlas 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 Atlas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Atlas and extending to:
- Buckhannon, which is the Seat of Upshur County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Atlas to Charleston, with an average speed<6>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 5 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 174 miles [280 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 6,030 miles [9,704.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,743 miles [10,851.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,618 miles [7,432 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Atlas. 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> | 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 Atlas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Atlas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Atlas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9776, Longitude: -80.2798 In this case, the coordinates for Atlas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Atlas 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. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Atlas 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 309.824 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.651 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.069 degrees. |