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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bowden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bowden 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 Bowden:
    • 38.908720, -79.709784
    • 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 Bowden
  • 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
    • Since Bowden is near Tucker County and also Barbour County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tucker County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour 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 Bowden

Communities Also Named Bowden ...

We found nine communities that are also named Bowden.

Within West Virginia, the name Bowden is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Bowden lies 1,866 miles [3,003 km]<1> to the northwest of the Bowden that is located in Randolph County.
    • Florida
      • Duval County
      • This Bowden is located in Duval County and lies 606 miles [975.3 km]<1> to the south of the Bowden that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Duval County community of Bowden.
    • Georgia
      • Henry County
      • This Bowden is located in Henry County and lies 441 miles [709.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Bowden that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Bowden.
    • Louisiana
      • Ascension Parish
      • This Bowden is located in Ascension Parish and lies 879 miles [1,414.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Bowden that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ascension Parish community of Bowden.
    • Maine
      • Penobscot County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maine community of Bowden [Penobscot County].
    • Manitoba
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • North Carolina
      • Duplin 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 North Carolina community of Bowden [Duplin County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Creek County
      • This Bowden is located in Creek County and lies 917 miles [1,475.8 km]<1> to the west of the Bowden that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Creek County community of Bowden.
    • Virginia
      • Halifax 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 Virginia community of Bowden [Halifax County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bowden ...

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.

  • Cheat Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cheat Junction is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheat Junction
  • Crystal Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Elk River Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Elk River Junction is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River Junction
  • Evenwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Evenwood is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evenwood
  • Flint
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Flint is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
  • Harpertown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Harpertown is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpertown
  • Job
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Job is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Job
  • Leadsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Leadsville is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadsville
  • Lumber ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lumber is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber
  • Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Meadows is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
  • Perlytown ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Perlytown is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perlytown
  • Pleasant Run
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Run is located in Tucker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
  • Read
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Read is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Read

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

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

  • Elkins, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies just to the West.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 110 miles [177 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Bowden to Charleston, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 143 miles [230.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,009 miles [9,670.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,721 miles [10,816.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,596 miles [7,396.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Bowden) 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 Bowden, 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Bowden 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 Bowden 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 Bowden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9087, Longitude: -79.7098       In this case, the coordinates for Bowden have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.482 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.252 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.847 degrees.