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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Hotchkiss:
    • 37.674003, -81.368159
    • 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 Hotchkiss
  • 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 Raleigh County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
    • Since Hotchkiss is near Wyoming County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming 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 Hotchkiss

Communities Also Named Hotchkiss ...

We found five communities that are also named Hotchkiss.

Within West Virginia, the name Hotchkiss is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Hotchkiss lies 2,116 miles [3,405.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Hotchkiss that is located in Raleigh County.
    • Colorado
      • Delta County
      • This Hotchkiss is located in Delta County and lies 1,426 miles [2,294.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Hotchkiss that is located in Raleigh County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delta County community of Hotchkiss.
      • Weld 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 Colorado community of Hotchkiss [Weld County].
    • Montana
      • Custer 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 Montana community of Hotchkiss [Custer County].
    • Virginia
      • Bath County
      • This Hotchkiss is located in Bath County and lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Hotchkiss that is located in Raleigh County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bath County community of Hotchkiss.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hotchkiss ...

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.

  • Amigo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Amigo is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amigo
  • Big Stick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Big Stick is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Stick
  • Blackeagle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Blackeagle is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackeagle
  • Bolt
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Bolt is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolt
  • Glen White
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen White is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen White
  • Helen
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Helen is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen
  • Hoohoo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hoohoo is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoohoo
  • Jenny Gap ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jenny Gap is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenny Gap
  • Lester
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lester is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
  • Maple Meadow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Maple Meadow is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Meadow
  • Mead
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mead is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mead
  • Polk Gap
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Polk Gap is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk Gap
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Ravencliff
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Ravencliff is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravencliff
    • Slab Fork
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Slab Fork is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Fork
    • Stonecoal Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Stonecoal Junction is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecoal Junction
    • Surveyor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Surveyor is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surveyor

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

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

  • Beckley, which is the Seat of Raleigh County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hotchkiss to Beckley, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 48 miles [77.2 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 249 miles [400.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,133 miles [9,870.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,843 miles [11,012.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,719 miles [7,594.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Hotchkiss) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Hotchkiss 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 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 Hotchkiss 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 Hotchkiss. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6740, Longitude: -81.3682       In this case, the coordinates for Hotchkiss have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.514 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.245 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.966 degrees.