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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Durbin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Durbin 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 Durbin:
    • 38.547010, -79.827768
    • 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 Durbin
  • 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 Pocahontas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pocahontas County
    • Since Durbin is near Randolph County and also Highland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Highland 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 Durbin

Communities Also Named Durbin ...

We found ten communities that are also named Durbin.

Within West Virginia, the name Durbin is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Saint Johns County
      • This Durbin is located in Saint Johns County and lies 591 miles [951.1 km]<1> to the south of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Johns County community of Durbin.
    • Indiana
      • Hamilton County
      • This Durbin is located in Hamilton County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Durbin.
    • Kentucky
      • Boyd County
      • This Durbin is located in Boyd County and lies 151 miles [243 km]<1> to the west of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boyd County community of Durbin.
    • Missouri
      • Wright County
      • This Durbin is located in Wright County and lies 694 miles [1,116.9 km]<1> to the west of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wright County community of Durbin.
    • North Dakota
      • Cass County
      • This Durbin is located in Cass County and lies 1,044 miles [1,680.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Durbin.
    • Ohio
      • Clark County
      • This Durbin is located in Clark County and lies 236 miles [379.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Durbin.
      • Mercer County
      • This Durbin is located in Mercer County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km] to the west northwest of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Durbin.
    • Oregon
      • Marion County
      • This Durbin is located in Marion County and lies 2,234 miles [3,595.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Durbin.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Greene County
      • This Durbin is located in Greene County and lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Durbin that is located in Pocahontas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Durbin.
    • Wyoming
      • Natrona 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 Wyoming community of Durbin [Natrona County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Durbin ...

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.

  • Burner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Burner is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burner
  • Deer Creek
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Deer Creek is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
  • Elkwater
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Elkwater is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkwater
  • Frank
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Frank is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frank
  • Gertrude ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Gertrude is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gertrude
  • Green Bank
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Mace
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mace is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mace
  • May
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • May is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
  • Mingo
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Olive
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Olive is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
  • Spangler
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Spangler is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
  • Spruce
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Spruce is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce
  • Valley Head
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Marlinton, which is the Seat of Pocahontas County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Durbin to Marlinton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 98 miles [157.7 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 152 miles [244.6 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 6,030 miles [9,704.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,740 miles [10,847 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,616 miles [7,428.7 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Durbin) 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 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 Durbin 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 Durbin 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 Durbin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5470, Longitude: -79.8278       In this case, the coordinates for Durbin 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 305.294 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.024 degrees.