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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bula, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bula 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 Bula:
    • 39.703135, -80.257296
    • 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 Bula
  • 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 Monongalia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monongalia County
    • Since Bula is near Greene County and also Marion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion 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 Bula

Communities Also Named Bula ...

We found three communities that are also named Bula.

Within West Virginia, the name Bula is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Bolivar 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 Mississippi community of Bula [Bolivar County].
    • Texas
      • Bailey County
      • This Bula is located in Bailey County and lies 1,296 miles [2,085.7 km]<2> to the west of the Bula that is located in Monongalia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bailey County community of Bula.
    • Virginia
      • Goochland County
      • This Bula is located in Goochland County and lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the Bula that is located in Monongalia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Goochland County community of Bula.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bula ...

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.

  • Brave
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Brave is located in Greene County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brave
  • Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Crossroads is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Hero
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hero is located in Greene County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hero
  • Hunting Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hunting Hills is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hills
  • Jakes Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jakes Run is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jakes Run
  • Jollytown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jollytown is located in Greene County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jollytown
  • Maple
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Maple is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple
  • Miracle Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Miracle Run is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miracle Run
  • Pine Bank
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Bank is located in Greene County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Bank
  • Ragtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Ragtown is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragtown
  • Sandy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sandy is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Shamrock
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Shamrock is located in Greene County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock

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

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

  • Morgantown, which is the Seat of Monongalia County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bula to Morgantown, 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 five to six hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 119 miles [191.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 180 miles [289.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,997 miles [9,651.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,713 miles [10,803.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,588 miles [7,383.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Bula 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bula) 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 Bula 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 Bula. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7031, Longitude: -80.2573       In this case, the coordinates for Bula have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.782 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.713 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.806 degrees.