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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Leatherwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Leatherwood 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 Leatherwood:
    • 37.623721, -81.810671
    • 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 Leatherwood
  • 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 Mingo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mingo County
    • Since Leatherwood is near Wyoming County and also Logan 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 Logan 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 Leatherwood

Communities Also Named Leatherwood ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Leatherwood.

There is one other community in West Virginia that is also named Leatherwood.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In West Virginia ...
    • Ohio County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Ohio County and lies 179 miles [288.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ohio County community of Leatherwood.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Calhoun County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Calhoun County and lies 353 miles [568.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Leatherwood.
    • Arkansas
      • Carroll 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 Arkansas community of Leatherwood [Carroll County].
    • Georgia
      • Franklin County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Franklin County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Leatherwood.
    • Indiana
      • Parke County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Parke County and lies 329 miles [529.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Parke County community of Leatherwood.
    • Kentucky
      • Menifee County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Menifee County and lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menifee County community of Leatherwood.
      • Perry County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Perry County and lies 85 miles [136.8 km] to the west southwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Leatherwood.
    • Maryland
      • Carroll County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Carroll County and lies 303 miles [487.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Leatherwood.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Clarion County and lies 268 miles [431.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Leatherwood.
    • Tennessee
      • Maury County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Leatherwood [Maury County].
      • Wayne County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Wayne County and lies 368 miles [592.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Leatherwood.
    • Virginia
      • Henry County
      • This Leatherwood is located in Henry County and lies 128 miles [206 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Leatherwood that is located in Mingo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Leatherwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Leatherwood ...

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.

  • Christian
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Christian is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian
  • Coal Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Coal Mountain is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Mountain
  • Cub City
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cub City is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cub City
  • Emmett
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Emmett is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmett
  • Gilbert
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Gilbert Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gilbert Creek is located in Mingo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert Creek
  • Horsepen ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Horsepen is located in Mingo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsepen
  • Justice
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Lincoln
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
  • Long Branch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Long Branch is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
  • Slabtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Slabtown is located in Mingo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
  • Sun Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sun Hill is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Hill
  • Uno
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Uno is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uno

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

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

  • Williamson, which is the Seat of Mingo County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Leatherwood to Williamson, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 50 miles [80.5 km] to the north (N). 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 most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 273 miles [439.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,153 miles [9,902.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,865 miles [11,048.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,741 miles [7,629.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Leatherwood) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Leatherwood 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>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 Leatherwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Leatherwood 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 Leatherwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6237, Longitude: -81.8107       In this case, the coordinates for Leatherwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.78 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.542 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.169 degrees.