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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Berkeley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Berkeley 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 Berkeley:
    • 39.503154, -77.927220
    • 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 Berkeley
  • 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 Berkeley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berkeley County
    • Since Berkeley is near Washington County and also Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 Berkeley

Communities Also Named Berkeley ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Berkeley.

Within West Virginia, the name Berkeley is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Alameda County
      • This Berkeley is located in Alameda County and lies 2,368 miles [3,810.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alameda County community of Berkeley.
    • Colorado
      • Arapahoe 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 Colorado community of Berkeley [Arapahoe County].
    • Florida
      • Hernando County
      • This Berkeley is located in Hernando County and lies 804 miles [1,293.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hernando County community of Berkeley.
    • Georgia
      • Madison 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 Georgia community of Berkeley [Madison County].
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Berkeley is located in Cook County and lies 547 miles [880.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Berkeley.
    • Indiana
      • Boone 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 Indiana community of Berkeley [Boone County].
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Berkeley is located in Saint Louis County and lies 666 miles [1,071.8 km]<1> to the west of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Berkeley.
    • New Jersey
      • Ocean 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 New Jersey community of Berkeley [Ocean County].
    • North Carolina
      • Nash County
      • This Berkeley is located in Nash County and lies 245 miles [394.3 km]<1> to the south of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nash County community of Berkeley.
      • Wayne 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 Berkeley [Wayne County].
    • Ontario
      • This Berkeley lies 366 miles [589 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence County
      • This Berkeley is located in Providence County and lies 379 miles [609.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Providence County community of Berkeley.
    • South Carolina
      • Berkeley 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 South Carolina community of Berkeley [Berkeley County].
    • Virginia
      • Albemarle County
      • This Berkeley is located in Albemarle County and lies 102 miles [164.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albemarle County community of Berkeley.
      • Charles City County
      • This Berkeley is located in Charles City County and lies 156 miles [251.1 km] to the south southeast of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles City County community of Berkeley.
    • Washington
      • Pierce County
      • This Berkeley is located in Pierce County and lies 2,260 miles [3,637.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Berkeley that is located in Berkeley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of Berkeley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Berkeley ...

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.

  • Cedar Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Falling Waters
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Falling Waters Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Falling Waters Ferry is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Waters Ferry
  • Files Crossroad
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Files Crossroad is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Files Crossroad
  • Georgetown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Georgetown is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Grubbs Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Grubbs Corner is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grubbs Corner
  • Heatherfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Heatherfield is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heatherfield
  • Hedgesville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Irish Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Irish Hill is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Hill
  • Little Georgetown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Little Georgetown is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Georgetown
  • Martinsburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pikeside
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pikeside is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeside
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Scrabble
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Scrabble is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scrabble
    • Spring Mills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Spring Mills is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mills
    • Swan Pond
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Swan Pond is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Pond
    • Tomahawk
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Tomahawk is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk

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

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

  • Martinsburg, which is the Seat of Berkeley County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 214 miles [344.4 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Berkeley to Charleston, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 63 miles [101.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,909 miles [9,509.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,619 miles [10,652.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,495 miles [7,234 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Berkeley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Berkeley 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>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 Berkeley 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 Berkeley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5032, Longitude: -77.9272       In this case, the coordinates for Berkeley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.381 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.091 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.861 degrees.