Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Index, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Index and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Index
- 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 Index:
- 38.876478, -81.015665
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Index
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Index is near Gilmer County and also Ritchie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gilmer County
- eBird sighting report for Ritchie 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Index ...
We found ten communities that share the name Index.
Within West Virginia, the name Index is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Conway County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Index [Conway County].
- Miller County
- This Index is located in Miller County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Index that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miller County community of Index.
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New York
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Index ...
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.
- Five Forks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Calhoun County
- Grantsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantsville
- Grantsville is located in Calhoun County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grantsville <5>
- Hardman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Henrietta
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Millstone
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Normantown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
- Normantown is located in Gilmer County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Normantown <5>
- Pleasant Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Calhoun County
- Purdy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Sand Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
- Sand Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Shock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shock
- Shock is located in Gilmer County
- Stumptown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stumptown
- Stumptown is located in Gilmer County
How Far From Index 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 Index to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Index once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Index and extending to:
- Grantsville, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 49 miles [78.9 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Index to Charleston, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 213 miles [342.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,064 miles [9,759.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,779 miles [10,909.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,654 miles [7,489.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Index, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Index) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Index. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8765, Longitude: -81.0157 In this case, the coordinates for Index have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Index 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. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Index to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.274 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.149 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.423 degrees. |