Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Katy, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Katy and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Katy
- 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 Katy:
- 39.511107, -80.224538
- 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 Katy
- 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- Since Katy is near Harrison County and also Monongalia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Harrison County
- eBird sighting report for Monongalia 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 Katy ...
We found four communities that share the name Katy.
Within West Virginia, the name Katy is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Missouri
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Katy ...
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.
- Barrackville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barrackville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrackville
- Barrackville is located in Marion County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,270 people
- Dakota
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Downs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Four States
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four States have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four States
- Four States is located in Marion County
- Garden Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
- Garden Village is located in Marion County
- Grant Town
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grant Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Town
- Grant Town is located in Marion County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 590 people
- Helens Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helens Run
- Helens Run is located in Marion County
- Highland
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Hillcrest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Hillview
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Homewood
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Hoodsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoodsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoodsville
- Hoodsville is located in Marion County
- Continue List (7 more) ...
- Keystone
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - New England
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New England have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New England
- New England is located in Marion County
- Oak Grove ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Paw Paw
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Pettyjohn ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Shagtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Wahoo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Keystone
How Far From Katy 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 Katy to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Katy and extending to:
- Fairmont, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 110 miles [177 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Katy to Charleston, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 175 miles [281.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,004 miles [9,662.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,719 miles [10,813.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,594 miles [7,393.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Katy. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Marion County: www.marioncountywv.com/
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Katy 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. |
| <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 from Point A (ie- Katy) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Katy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5111, Longitude: -80.2245 |
| <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 Katy 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 309.77 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.67 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.859 degrees. |