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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dakota, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dakota 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 Dakota:
    • 39.513695, -80.135355
    • 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 Dakota
  • 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Since Dakota is near Monongalia County and also Harrison 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 Harrison 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 Dakota

Communities Also Named Dakota ...

We found seven communities that are also named Dakota.

Within West Virginia, the name Dakota is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Dooly 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 Georgia community of Dakota [Dooly County].
      • Turner County
      • This Dakota is located in Turner County and lies 570 miles [917.3 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Dakota that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Turner County community of Dakota.
    • Illinois
      • Stephenson County
      • This Dakota is located in Stephenson County and lies 528 miles [849.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Dakota that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephenson County community of Dakota.
    • Minnesota
      • Winona County
      • This Dakota is located in Winona County and lies 652 miles [1,049.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Dakota that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winona County community of Dakota.
    • Nebraska
      • Dakota County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Dakota County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dakota County community of Dakota.
    • Ontario
      • 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 Ontario community of Dakota.
    • Wisconsin
      • Waushara County
      • This Dakota is located in Waushara County and lies 566 miles [910.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Dakota that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Waushara County community of Dakota.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dakota ...

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.

  • Barrackville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Barrackville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrackville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,270 people
  • Garden Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Garden Village is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
  • Graham Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Graham Heights is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Heights
  • Grant Town
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Grant Town is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Town
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 590 people
  • Hillcrest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillcrest is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Hopewell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hopewell is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Jordan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jordan is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
  • Meadowdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Meadowdale is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
  • Montana
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Montana is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montana
  • Mount Harmony
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mount Harmony is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Harmony
  • Paw Paw
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Paw Paw is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw
  • Pettyjohn ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Pettyjohn is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettyjohn
  • Pleasant View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant View is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Shagtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Shagtown is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shagtown

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

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

  • Fairmont, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 113 miles [181.9 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Dakota 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 171 miles [275.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 6,000 miles [9,656.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,715 miles [10,806.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,590 miles [7,386.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Dakota 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dakota) 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 Dakota, 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 Dakota 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 Dakota. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5137, Longitude: -80.1354       In this case, the coordinates for Dakota have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.715 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.609 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.819 degrees.