Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ivan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ivan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ivan
- 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 Ivan:
- 38.984248, -81.342619
- 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 Ivan
- 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 Wirt County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wirt County
- Since Ivan is near Calhoun County and also Roane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- eBird sighting report for Roane 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 Ivan ...
We found seven communities that share the name Ivan.
Within West Virginia, the name Ivan is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Ontario
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ivan ...
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.
- Beaverdam
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Burning Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burning Springs
- Burning Springs is located in Wirt County
- Cherry
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Enterprise
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enterprise have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Enterprise is located in Wirt County
- Evelyn ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Palestine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- Palestine is located in Wirt County
- Rover
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Two Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Ivan 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 Ivan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ivan and extending to:
- Elizabeth, which is the Seat of Wirt County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 46 miles [74 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Ivan to Charleston, with an average speed<4> 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 231 miles [371.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,073 miles [9,773.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,789 miles [10,925.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,664 miles [7,506 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ivan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
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- Ivan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ivan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9842, Longitude: -81.3426 In this case, the coordinates for Ivan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Ivan 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> | 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. |
| <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 Ivan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.47 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.389 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.53 degrees. |