Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Despard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Despard and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Despard

• 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 Despard:
  • 39.288701, -80.305922
  • 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 Despard

• 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 Harrison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Harrison County
  • Since Despard is near Taylor County and also Barbour County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour 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 Despard

Curious and Interesting Names Near Despard ...

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.

• Chestnut Hills
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Chestnut Hills is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
• Erie
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Erie is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
• Glen Falls
  (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Glen Falls is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Falls
• Gore
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Gore is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gore
• Industrial
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Industrial is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial
• Liberty
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Liberty is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
• Lodgeville
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Lodgeville is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodgeville
• Meadowbrook
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Meadowbrook is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
• Nutter Fort
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Nutter Fort is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutter Fort
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,501 people
• Oral Lake
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Oral Lake is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral Lake
• Quiet Dell
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Quiet Dell is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Dell
• Summit Park
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Summit Park is located in Harrison County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Park

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

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

• Clarksburg, which is the Seat of Harrison County, lies just to the West Southwest.
• Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Despard to Charleston, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 177 miles [284.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,017 miles [9,683.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,731 miles [10,832.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,607 miles [7,414.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'