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 Joplin:
38.343152, -81.680402
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.
We found seven communities that are also named Joplin.
Within West Virginia, the name Joplin is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arkansas
Montgomery County
This Joplin is located in Montgomery County and lies 703 miles [1,131.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Joplin that is located in Kanawha County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Joplin.
Mississippi
Attala County
This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Joplin [Attala County].
Missouri
Jasper County
This Joplin is located in Jasper County and lies 705 miles [1,134.6 km]<1> to the west of the Joplin that is located in Kanawha County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jasper County community of Joplin.
Montana
Liberty County
This Joplin is located in Liberty County and lies 1,606 miles [2,584.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Joplin that is located in Kanawha County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Liberty County community of Joplin.
Nevada
Washoe County
This community is historic<2> and although located in Washoe County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washoe County community of Joplin.
Texas
Jack County
This Joplin is located in Jack County and lies 982 miles [1,580.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Joplin that is located in Kanawha County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jack County community of Joplin.
Virginia
Prince William County
This Joplin is located in Prince William County and lies 232 miles [373.4 km]<1> to the east of the Joplin that is located in Kanawha County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince William County community of Joplin.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Joplin ...
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.
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 Joplin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Joplin and extending to:
The White House (Washington, DC) is 253 miles [407.2 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Joplin to White House, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,116 miles [9,842.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,830 miles [10,991.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,705 miles [7,572 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Joplin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
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 Joplin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Joplin 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 Joplin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3432, Longitude: -81.6804 In this case, the coordinates for Joplin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.691 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.546 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.886 degrees.