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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Filbert, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Filbert 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 Filbert:
    • 37.318170, -81.543995
    • 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 Filbert
  • 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McDowell County
    • Since Filbert is near Tazewell County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Filbert

Communities Also Named Filbert ...

We found three communities that are also named Filbert.

Within West Virginia, the name Filbert is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Cruz County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Filbert [Santa Cruz County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fayette County
      • This Filbert is located in Fayette County and lies 202 miles [325.1 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Filbert that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Filbert.
    • South Carolina
      • York County
      • This Filbert is located in York County and lies 157 miles [252.7 km]<2> to the south of the Filbert that is located in McDowell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Filbert.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Filbert ...

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.

  • Abbs Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Abbs Valley is located in Tazewell County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
  • Big Four
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Big Four is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Four
  • Bishop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Bishop is located in Tazewell County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
  • Black Wolf
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Black Wolf is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Wolf
  • Bottom Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Bottom Creek is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Creek
  • Cucumber
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cucumber is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cucumber
  • Gary
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Gary is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
  • Horsepen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Horsepen is located in Tazewell County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsepen
  • Horsepen Cove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Horsepen Cove is located in Tazewell County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsepen Cove
  • Jacobs Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jacobs Fork is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs Fork
  • Jenkinjones
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jenkinjones is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkinjones
  • Johnstown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Johnstown is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rift
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Rift is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rift
    • Skygusty
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Skygusty is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skygusty
    • Squire
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Squire is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squire
    • Superior
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Superior is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior

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

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

  • Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Filbert to Charleston, with an average speed<3>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 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 268 miles [431.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,156 miles [9,907.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,866 miles [11,049.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,742 miles [7,631.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Filbert 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.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Filbert) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Filbert 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 Filbert. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3182, Longitude: -81.5440       In this case, the coordinates for Filbert have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.624 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.318 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.152 degrees.