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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Browns Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Browns Mill 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 Browns Mill:
    • 39.479531, -79.828117
    • 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 Browns Mill
  • 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 Preston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Preston County
    • Since Browns Mill is near Monongalia County and also Taylor County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monongalia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor 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 Browns Mill

Communities Also Named Browns Mill ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Browns Mill.

There is one other community in West Virginia that is also named Browns Mill.

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

  • Communities Located In West Virginia ...
    • Harrison County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Browns Mill [Harrison County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Fulton County
      • This Browns Mill is located in Fulton County and lies 472 miles [759.6 km]<2> to the southwest of the Browns Mill that is located in Preston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Browns Mill.
    • Illinois
      • Stephenson County
      • This Browns Mill is located in Stephenson County and lies 541 miles [870.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Browns Mill that is located in Preston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephenson County community of Browns Mill.
    • Missouri
      • Cass County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Cass County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Browns Mill.
      • Ripley County
      • Although located in Ripley County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ripley County community of Browns Mill.
    • Oregon
      • Josephine County
      • This Browns Mill is located in Josephine County and lies 2,255 miles [3,629.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Browns Mill that is located in Preston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Josephine County community of Browns Mill.
      • Linn County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oregon community of Browns Mill [Linn County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Berks County
      • This Browns Mill is located in Berks County and lies 221 miles [355.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Browns Mill that is located in Preston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berks County community of Browns Mill.
      • Juniata County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Browns Mill [Juniata County].
    • Tennessee
      • Rutherford County
      • This Browns Mill is located in Rutherford County and lies 430 miles [692 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Browns Mill that is located in Preston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Browns Mill.
    • Vermont
      • Essex County
      • This Browns Mill is located in Essex County and lies 552 miles [888.4 km]<2> to the northeast of the Browns Mill that is located in Preston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Essex County community of Browns Mill.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This Browns Mill is located in Fairfax County and lies 140 miles [225.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Browns Mill that is located in Preston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Browns Mill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Browns Mill ...

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.

  • Camp Ground
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Camp Ground is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Ground
  • Cascade
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cascade is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Gum Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gum Spring is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
  • Herring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Herring is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herring
  • Independence
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Independence is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
  • Kanes Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kanes Creek is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanes Creek
  • Masontown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Mountain View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain View is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Oriole ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oriole is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oriole
  • Reedsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Threefork Bridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Threefork Bridge is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Threefork Bridge

How Far From Browns Mill to ...

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

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

  • Kingwood, which is the Seat of Preston County, lies just to the East.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Browns Mill to Charleston, with an average speed<5>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 154 miles [247.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,989 miles [9,638.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,703 miles [10,787.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,578 miles [7,367.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Browns Mill 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.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Browns Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Browns Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Browns Mill 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 Browns Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4795, Longitude: -79.8281       In this case, the coordinates for Browns Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.529 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.392 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.696 degrees.