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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dent, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dent 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 Dent:
    • 39.294264, -79.877294
    • 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 Dent
  • 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 Barbour County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour County
    • Since Dent is near Preston County and also Taylor County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Preston 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 Dent

Communities Also Named Dent ...

We found nine communities that are also named Dent.

Within West Virginia, the name Dent is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Weld County
      • This Dent is located in Weld County and lies 1,321 miles [2,125.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Dent that is located in Barbour County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weld County community of Dent.
    • Idaho
      • Clearwater County
      • This Dent is located in Clearwater County and lies 1,885 miles [3,033.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Dent that is located in Barbour County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clearwater County community of Dent.
    • Kentucky
      • Russell County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Dent [Russell County].
    • Minnesota
      • Otter Tail County
      • This Dent is located in Otter Tail County and lies 942 miles [1,516 km]<1> to the northwest of the Dent that is located in Barbour County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otter Tail County community of Dent.
    • Mississippi
      • Holmes County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Dent [Holmes County].
    • Missouri
      • Texas County
      • This Dent is located in Texas County and lies 664 miles [1,068.6 km]<1> to the west of the Dent that is located in Barbour County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Texas County community of Dent.
    • Ohio
      • Hamilton County
      • This Dent is located in Hamilton County and lies 255 miles [410.4 km]<1> to the west of the Dent that is located in Barbour County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Dent.
    • Oklahoma
      • Lincoln County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Dent [Lincoln County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Greene County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Dent [Greene County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dent ...

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.

  • Cecil
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Cecil is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Cove Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cove Run is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Run
  • Cove Run Station ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cove Run Station is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Run Station
  • Fellowsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fellowsville is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowsville
  • Hardman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hardman is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardman
  • Independence
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Independence is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
  • Israel
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Israel is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Israel
  • Knottsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Knottsville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knottsville
  • Maple Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Maple Run is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Run
  • Moatsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Sandy ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Sandy is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Scotch Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Scotch Hill is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Hill
  • Valley Furnace
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Valley Furnace is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Furnace

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

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

  • Philippi, which is the Seat of Barbour County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dent to Philippi, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 114 miles [183.5 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 154 miles [247.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,999 miles [9,654.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,713 miles [10,803.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,588 miles [7,383.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Dent) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Dent 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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Dent 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 Dent. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2943, Longitude: -79.8773       In this case, the coordinates for Dent have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.567 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.407 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.784 degrees.