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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Maple Run, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Maple Run 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 Maple Run:
    • 39.335372, -79.903961
    • 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 Maple Run
  • 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 Taylor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
    • Since Maple Run is near Preston County and also Barbour County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Preston County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour 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 Maple Run

Communities Also Named Maple Run ...

We found two communities that are also named Maple Run.

Within West Virginia, the name Maple Run is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Saint Mary's County
      • This Maple Run is located in Saint Mary's County and lies 195 miles [313.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Maple Run that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Mary's County community of Maple Run.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Luzerne 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 Pennsylvania community of Maple Run [Luzerne County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Maple Run ...

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.

  • Blueville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Blueville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blueville
  • Cecil
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cecil is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Cove Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cove Run is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Run
  • Cove Run Station ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cove Run Station is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Run Station
  • Dent
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dent is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
  • Fellowsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Fellowsville is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowsville
  • Hardman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hardman is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardman
  • Independence
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Independence is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
  • Israel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Israel is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Israel
  • Knottsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Knottsville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knottsville
  • Sandy ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Scotch Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Scotch Hill is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Hill

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

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

  • Grafton, which is the Seat of Taylor County, lies just to the West.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Maple Run to Charleston, with an average speed<3>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 156 miles [251.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,998 miles [9,652.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,712 miles [10,801.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,587 miles [7,382.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Maple Run) 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 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 Maple Run 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>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 Maple Run 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 Maple Run. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3354, Longitude: -79.9040       In this case, the coordinates for Maple Run have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.582 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.43 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.781 degrees.