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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Run, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Run 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 Big Run:
    • 39.584527, -80.577590
    • 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 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 Wetzel County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wetzel County
    • Since Big Run is near Marion County and also Marshall 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 Marshall 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 Run

Communities Also Named Big Run ...

We found ten communities that are also named Big Run.

There are three communities within West Virginia that are also named Big Run.

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

  • Communities Located In West Virginia ...
    • Marion County
      • This Big Run is located in Marion County and lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Big Run that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Big Run.
    • Marshall County
      • This Big Run is located in Marshall County and lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north of the Big Run that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Big Run.
    • Webster County
      • This Big Run is located in Webster County and lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the south of the Big Run that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webster County community of Big Run.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Athens County
      • This Big Run is located in Athens County and lies 70 miles [112.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Big Run that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Big Run.
      • Franklin County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Franklin County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Big Run.
      • Pike County
      • This community is historic and although located in Pike County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Big Run.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Centre County
      • This Big Run is located in Centre County and lies 184 miles [296.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Big Run that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Centre County community of Big Run.
      • Dauphin County
      • This Big Run is located in Dauphin County and lies 213 miles [342.8 km] to the east northeast of the Big Run that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dauphin County community of Big Run.
      • Jefferson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Big Run [Jefferson County].
      • Lawrence County
      • This Big Run is located in Lawrence County and lies 131 miles [210.8 km] to the northeast of the Big Run that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Big Run.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big 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.

  • Anthem
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Anthem is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthem
  • Archer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Archer is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
  • Brink
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Brink is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brink
  • Carbide
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbide is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbide
  • Dean
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Dean is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
  • Fallen Timber ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Fallen Timber is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallen Timber
  • Four Mile
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Four Mile is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Mile
  • Hazel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hazel is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
  • Kingstown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Kingstown is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingstown
  • Knob Fork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Knob Fork is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob Fork
  • Sincerity
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sincerity is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sincerity
  • Uniontown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Uniontown is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
  • Wheat
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Wheat is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheat

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

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

  • New Martinsville, which is the Seat of Wetzel County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Big Run to New Martinsville, with an average speed<4> 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 102 miles [164.2 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 three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 195 miles [313.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,015 miles [9,680.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,731 miles [10,832.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,606 miles [7,412.6 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Big Run) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Big Run, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Big 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.
<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 Big 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 Big Run. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5845, Longitude: -80.5776       In this case, the coordinates for Big Run have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.982 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.923 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.989 degrees.