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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Harding, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harding 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 Harding:
    • 38.948160, -79.959241
    • 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 Harding
  • 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
    • Since Harding is near Barbour County and also Upshur County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Upshur 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 Harding

Communities Also Named Harding ...

We found twenty communities that are also named Harding.

Within West Virginia, the name Harding is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of twenty communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twenty communities, nineteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Harding is located in Hillsborough County and lies 773 miles [1,244 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Harding.
    • Georgia
      • Tift County
      • This Harding is located in Tift County and lies 548 miles [881.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tift County community of Harding.
    • Illinois
      • La Salle County
      • This Harding is located in La Salle County and lies 500 miles [804.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle County community of Harding.
    • Iowa
      • Polk 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 Iowa community of Harding [Polk County].
    • Kansas
      • Bourbon County
      • This Harding is located in Bourbon County and lies 805 miles [1,295.5 km]<1> to the west of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bourbon County community of Harding.
      • Doniphan 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 Kansas community of Harding [Doniphan County].
    • Kentucky
      • Union County
      • This Harding is located in Union County and lies 443 miles [712.9 km]<1> to the west of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Harding.
    • Maine
      • Cumberland County
      • This Harding is located in Cumberland County and lies 623 miles [1,002.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Harding.
    • Manitoba
      • This Harding lies 1,261 miles [2,029.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
    • Massachusetts
      • Norfolk County
      • This Harding is located in Norfolk County and lies 505 miles [812.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Norfolk County community of Harding.
    • Michigan
      • Mason 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 Michigan community of Harding [Mason County].
    • Minnesota
      • Morrison County
      • This Harding is located in Morrison County and lies 868 miles [1,396.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morrison County community of Harding.
    • New Jersey
      • Gloucester County
      • This Harding is located in Gloucester County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gloucester County community of Harding.
    • North Dakota
      • McKenzie County
      • This Harding is located in McKenzie County and lies 1,346 miles [2,166.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McKenzie County community of Harding.
      • Ramsey 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 North Dakota community of Harding [Ramsey County].
    • Ohio
      • Muskingum 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 Ohio community of Harding [Muskingum County].
      • Richland County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Richland County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Harding.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Luzerne County
      • This Harding is located in Luzerne County and lies 275 miles [442.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Luzerne County community of Harding.
    • South Dakota
      • Harding County
      • This Harding is located in Harding County and lies 1,289 miles [2,074.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harding County community of Harding.
    • Utah
      • Millard County
      • This Harding is located in Millard County and lies 1,732 miles [2,787.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Harding that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Millard County community of Harding.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Harding ...

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.

  • Aggregates
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Aggregates is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aggregates
  • Crystal Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Fisher ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fisher is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
  • Gage
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Gage is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gage
  • Jeff Scotts ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jeff Scotts is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeff Scotts
  • Jimtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jimtown is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
  • Junior
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Junior is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junior
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 483 people
  • Kingsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Kingsville is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsville
  • Roaring Creek Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Skidmore ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Skidmore is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidmore
  • Weaver
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Weaver is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver

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

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

  • Elkins, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Harding to Charleston, with an average speed<4>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 157 miles [252.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,018 miles [9,685 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,730 miles [10,830.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,606 miles [7,412.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Harding) 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 Harding 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>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 Harding, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Harding 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 Harding. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9482, Longitude: -79.9592       In this case, the coordinates for Harding have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.631 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.427 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.941 degrees.