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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Isaac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Isaac 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 Big Isaac:
    • 39.200072, -80.538922
    • 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 Big Isaac
  • 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 Doddridge County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Doddridge County
    • Since Big Isaac is near Harrison County and also Lewis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harrison County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis 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 Big Isaac

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Isaac ...

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.

  • Butchersville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Butchersville is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butchersville
  • Churchville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Churchville is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
  • Coldwater
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Fink
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Fink is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fink
  • Freemansburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Freemansburg is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freemansburg
  • Goodhope
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Goodhope is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodhope
  • Industrial
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Industrial is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial
  • Lake Floyd
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lake Floyd is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Floyd
  • Lightburn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Long Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Run is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Run
  • Market
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Sheets Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Sheets Mills is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheets Mills
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sugar Camp
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Sugar Camp is located in Doddridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Camp
    • Sun Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Sun Valley is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
    • Valley Chapel
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Wolf Summit
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Wolf Summit is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Summit

How Far From Big Isaac to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Big Isaac to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • West Union, which is the Seat of Doddridge County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Big Isaac to West Union, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 83 miles [133.6 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 188 miles [302.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,745 miles [10,855 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,620 miles [7,435.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Big Isaac) 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 Big Isaac 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 Big Isaac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2001, Longitude: -80.5389       In this case, the coordinates for Big Isaac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.973 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.855 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.106 degrees.