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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dukes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dukes 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 Dukes:
    • 38.896473, -81.451788
    • 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 Dukes
  • 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Since Dukes is near Wirt County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wirt County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Dukes

Communities Also Named Dukes ...

We found seven communities that are also named Dukes.

Within West Virginia, the name Dukes is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Union County
      • This Dukes is located in Union County and lies 619 miles [996.2 km]<1> to the south of the Dukes that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Dukes.
    • Georgia
      • Liberty County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Dukes [Liberty County].
    • Kentucky
      • Hancock County
      • This Dukes is located in Hancock County and lies 293 miles [471.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Dukes that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Dukes.
    • Michigan
      • Marquette County
      • This Dukes is located in Marquette County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Dukes that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marquette County community of Dukes.
    • North Carolina
      • Nash County
      • This Dukes is located in Nash County and lies 273 miles [439.4 km]<1> to the southeast of the Dukes that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nash County community of Dukes.
    • Ohio
      • Putnam County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Putnam County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Dukes.
    • South Carolina
      • Hampton County
      • This Dukes is located in Hampton County and lies 414 miles [666.3 km]<1> to the south of the Dukes that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampton County community of Dukes.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dukes ...

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.

  • Beaverdam
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Beaverdam is located in Wirt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdam
  • Buffalo ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Buffalo is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
  • Evelyn ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Evelyn is located in Wirt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evelyn
  • Grace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Grace is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
  • LeRoy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • LeRoy is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LeRoy
  • Liverpool
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Liverpool is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liverpool
  • Marshall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Marshall is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Peewee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Peewee is located in Wirt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peewee
  • Reedy
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Reedy is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Reedyville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Reedyville is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedyville
    • Sandy Summit
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Sandy Summit is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Summit
    • Seaman
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Seaman is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaman
    • Sunflower
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sunflower is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunflower
    • Two Run
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Two Run is located in Wirt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Run
    • Zackville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Zackville is located in Wirt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zackville

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

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

  • Spencer, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Dukes to Charleston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 237 miles [381.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,081 miles [9,786.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,797 miles [10,938.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,672 miles [7,518.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dukes) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Dukes, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 Dukes 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 Dukes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8965, Longitude: -81.4518       In this case, the coordinates for Dukes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.539 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.455 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.607 degrees.