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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Danstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Danstown 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 Danstown:
    • 38.770918, -81.786799
    • 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 Danstown
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Danstown is near Mason County and also Meigs County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mason County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Meigs 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 Danstown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Danstown ...

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.

  • Cottageville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Cottageville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottageville
  • Edgar ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Edgar is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar
  • Evans
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Evans is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
  • Evergreen Hills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen Hills is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Hills
  • Fairplain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fairplain is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplain
  • Flatwoods
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Flatwoods is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Gunville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Gunville is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunville
  • Huntsville ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Huntsville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
  • Parchment Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Parchment Valley is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parchment Valley
  • Pleasant Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Providence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Providence is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Salt Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Salt Hill is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Hill
  • Skidmore
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Skidmore is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidmore
  • Tribble
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tribble is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tribble

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Danstown and extending to:

  • Ripley, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Danstown to Charleston, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 255 miles [410.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,101 miles [9,818.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,817 miles [10,970.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,692 miles [7,551 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Danstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Danstown 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 Danstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7709, Longitude: -81.7868       In this case, the coordinates for Danstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.747 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.673 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.795 degrees.