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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brittain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brittain 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 Brittain:
    • 39.379256, -80.051744
    • 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 Brittain
  • 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 Taylor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
    • Since Brittain is near Marion County and also Preston 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 Preston 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 Brittain

Communities Also Named Brittain ...

We found five communities that are also named Brittain.

Within West Virginia, the name Brittain is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Pulaski County
      • This Brittain is located in Pulaski County and lies 750 miles [1,207 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Brittain that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Brittain.
    • Kansas
      • Cloud 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 Kansas community of Brittain [Cloud County].
    • Missouri
      • Dallas County
      • This Brittain is located in Dallas County and lies 703 miles [1,131.4 km]<1> to the west of the Brittain that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Brittain.
    • North Carolina
      • Rutherford 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 Brittain [Rutherford County].
    • Ohio
      • Summit County
      • This Brittain is located in Summit County and lies 138 miles [222.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Brittain that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summit County community of Brittain.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brittain ...

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.

  • Belgium
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Belgium is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgium
  • Blueville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Blueville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blueville
  • Boothsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Boothsville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boothsville
  • Cecil
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Cecil is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Elliotsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Elliotsville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliotsville
  • Forksburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Forksburg is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forksburg
  • Graham Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Graham Heights is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Heights
  • Hardman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Hardman is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardman
  • Hebron
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Hebron is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Hillview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillview is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
  • Hopewell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hopewell is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Knottsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Knottsville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knottsville
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Maple Run
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Maple Run is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Run
    • Meadowdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Meadowdale is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
    • New England
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • New England is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New England
    • Pettyjohn ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Pettyjohn is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettyjohn
    • Sandy ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Sandy is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
    • Shagtown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Shagtown is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shagtown
    • Stone House ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Stone House is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone House

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Brittain once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Brittain and extending to:

  • Grafton, which is the Seat of Taylor County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 110 miles [177 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Brittain 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 164 miles [263.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,002 miles [9,659.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,717 miles [10,810 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,592 miles [7,390.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brittain) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Brittain 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>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 Brittain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Brittain 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 Brittain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3793, Longitude: -80.0517       In this case, the coordinates for Brittain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.67 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.537 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.83 degrees.