Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dan
- 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 Dan:
- 37.354557, -81.800114
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Dan
- 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDowell County
- Since Dan is near Buchanan County and also Tazewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Dan ...
We found seven communities that share the name Dan.
Within West Virginia, the name Dan is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Letcher 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 Kentucky community of Dan [Letcher County].
- Menifee County
- This Dan is located in Menifee County and lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Dan that is located in McDowell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menifee County community of Dan.
- Ohio County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Dan [Ohio County].
- Texas
- Virginia
- Franklin 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 Virginia community of Dan [Franklin County].
- Spotsylvania County
- This Dan is located in Spotsylvania County and lies 220 miles [354.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Dan that is located in McDowell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spotsylvania County community of Dan.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dan ...
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.
- Apple Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Apple Grove is located in McDowell County
- Beartown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Bearwallow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearwallow
- Bearwallow is located in Buchanan County (VA)
- English
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Erin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Height
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Jewell Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jewell Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell Valley
- Jewell Valley is located in Buchanan County (VA)
- Johnnycake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnnycake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnnycake
- Johnnycake is located in McDowell County
- Peapatch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Rift
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Rockridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Sandy Huff
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Huff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Huff
- Sandy Huff is located in McDowell County
- Slate
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Union City
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
- Union City is located in McDowell County
- Warriormine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warriormine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warriormine
- Warriormine is located in McDowell County
- Rift
How Far From Dan 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 Dan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dan and extending to:
- Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Dan to Welch, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 69 miles [111 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 279 miles [449 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,165 miles [9,921.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,875 miles [11,064.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,751 miles [7,646 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
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 Dan 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' (or 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- Dan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3546, Longitude: -81.8001 In this case, the coordinates for Dan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Dan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.777 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.499 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.248 degrees. |