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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bens Run, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bens Run 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 Bens Run:
    • 39.465909, -81.108445
    • 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 Bens Run
  • 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 Tyler County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tyler County
    • Since Bens Run is near Washington County and also Pleasants County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pleasants 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 Bens Run

Communities Also Named Bens Run ...

We found one communities that are also named Bens Run.

There is one other community in West Virginia that is also named Bens Run.

Beyond West Virginia.

  • Communities Located In West Virginia ...
    • Pleasants 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 West Virginia community of Bens Run [Pleasants County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bens Run ...

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.

  • Algeria ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Algeria is located in Pleasants County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algeria
  • Archers Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Archers Fork is located in Washington County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archers Fork
  • Beavertown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Beavertown is located in Washington County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavertown
  • Everett
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Everett is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
  • Falls Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Falls Mills is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Mills
  • Federal ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Federal is located in Pleasants County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal
  • Friendly
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Friendly is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendly
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
  • Glass
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Glass is located in Washington County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass
  • Grandview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grandview is located in Washington County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Grape Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Grape Island is located in Pleasants County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape Island
  • Little
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Little is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little
  • Long Reach
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Long Reach is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Reach
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Point Lookout
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Point Lookout is located in Pleasants County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Lookout
    • Raven Rock
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Raven Rock is located in Pleasants County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Rock
    • Spring Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Run is located in Pleasants County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Run
    • Sugar Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Sugar Valley is located in Pleasants County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Valley
    • Union Mills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Union Mills is located in Pleasants County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Mills
    • Wasp
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Wasp is located in Pleasants County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasp

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Bens Run and extending to:

  • Middlebourne, which is the Seat of Tyler County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Bens Run to Middlebourne, with an average speed<3> 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 82 miles [132 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 221 miles [355.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,042 miles [9,723.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,759 miles [10,877.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,634 miles [7,457.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Bens Run 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bens Run) 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 Bens Run 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 Bens Run. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4659, Longitude: -81.1084       In this case, the coordinates for Bens Run have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.312 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.281 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.265 degrees.