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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Belgium, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Belgium and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Belgium:
    • 39.323702, -80.116192
    • 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 Belgium
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
    • Since Belgium is near Marion County and also Harrison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Belgium

Communities Also Named Belgium ...

We found four communities that are also named Belgium.

Within West Virginia, the name Belgium is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • DeSoto County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Belgium [DeSoto County].
    • Illinois
      • Vermilion County
      • This Belgium is located in Vermilion County and lies 402 miles [647 km]<2> to the west of the Belgium that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermilion County community of Belgium.
    • New York
      • Onondaga County
      • This Belgium is located in Onondaga County and lies 332 miles [534.3 km]<2> to the northeast of the Belgium that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Belgium.
    • Wisconsin
      • Ozaukee County
      • This Belgium is located in Ozaukee County and lies 493 miles [793.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the Belgium that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ozaukee County community of Belgium.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Belgium ...

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
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Bear Mountain is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Mountain
  • Blueville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Blueville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blueville
  • Boothsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Boothsville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boothsville
  • Cecil
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cecil is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Elliotsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Elliotsville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliotsville
  • Hebron
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hebron is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Hillview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillview is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
  • Knottsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Knottsville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knottsville
  • Maple Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Maple Lake is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Lake
  • Oral Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oral Lake is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral Lake
  • Pleasant Creek ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Creek is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Creek
  • Saltwell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Saltwell is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltwell
  • Stone House ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Stone House is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone House

How Far From Belgium to ...

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 community such as Belgium to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Grafton, which is the Seat of Taylor County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 105 miles [169 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Belgium to Charleston, with an average speed<3>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 167 miles [268.8 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,008 miles [9,668.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,722 miles [10,818 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,597 miles [7,398.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Belgium, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Belgium) 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 Belgium 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 Belgium. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3237, Longitude: -80.1162       In this case, the coordinates for Belgium have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.711 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.575 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.878 degrees.