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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Barksdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Barksdale 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 Barksdale:
    • 37.707619, -80.886477
    • 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 Barksdale
  • 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 Summers County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Summers County
    • Since Barksdale is near Raleigh County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Barksdale

Communities Also Named Barksdale ...

We found nine communities that are also named Barksdale.

Within West Virginia, the name Barksdale is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Washington County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Barksdale [Washington County].
    • Maryland
      • Cecil County
      • This Barksdale is located in Cecil County and lies 305 miles [490.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cecil County community of Barksdale.
    • Mississippi
      • Quitman County
      • This Barksdale is located in Quitman County and lies 582 miles [936.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Quitman County community of Barksdale.
    • South Carolina
      • Greenville County
      • This Barksdale is located in Greenville County and lies 216 miles [347.6 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenville County community of Barksdale.
      • Laurens County
      • This Barksdale is located in Laurens County and lies 226 miles [363.7 km] to the south southwest of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Laurens County community of Barksdale.
    • Texas
      • Edwards County
      • This Barksdale is located in Edwards County and lies 1,226 miles [1,973.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Edwards County community of Barksdale.
    • Virginia
      • Halifax County
      • This Barksdale is located in Halifax County and lies 121 miles [194.7 km]<2> to the southeast of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Halifax County community of Barksdale.
      • Prince William County
      • This Barksdale is located in Prince William County and lies 204 miles [328.3 km] to the east northeast of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince William County community of Barksdale.
    • Wisconsin
      • Bayfield County
      • This Barksdale is located in Bayfield County and lies 800 miles [1,287.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Barksdale that is located in Summers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bayfield County community of Barksdale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Barksdale ...

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.

  • Bragg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bragg is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg
  • Buck
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Buck is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
  • Claypool
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Claypool is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
  • Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Crossroads is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Green Sulphur Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hix
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hix is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hix
  • Jumping Branch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jumping Branch is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch
  • Lockbridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Lockbridge is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockbridge
  • Meadow Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Meadow Creek is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Creek
  • Packs Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
  • Pear ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pear is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pear
  • Pluto
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pluto is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pluto
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Ramp
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ramp is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramp
    • Sandstone
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Suck Creek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Suck Creek is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suck Creek
    • Tina ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Tina is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tina

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Barksdale and extending to:

  • Hinton, which is the Seat of Summers County, lies just to the South.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 59 miles [95 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Barksdale to Charleston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. 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 224 miles [360.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,111 miles [9,834.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,821 miles [10,977.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,697 miles [7,559.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Barksdale 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.
<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- Barksdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Barksdale 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 Barksdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7076, Longitude: -80.8865       In this case, the coordinates for Barksdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.224 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.919 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.753 degrees.