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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Margaret, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Margaret 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 Margaret:
    • 39.458419, -80.443423
    • 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 Margaret
  • 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 Harrison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harrison County
    • Since Margaret is near Marion County and also Wetzel County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wetzel 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 Margaret

Communities Also Named Margaret ...

We found eight communities that are also named Margaret.

Within West Virginia, the name Margaret is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Margaret is located in Saint Clair County and lies 520 miles [836.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Margaret that is located in Harrison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Margaret.
    • Kansas
      • Lincoln 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 Kansas community of Margaret [Lincoln County].
    • Manitoba
      • This Margaret lies 1,172 miles [1,886.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Margaret that is located in Harrison County.
    • North Carolina
      • Franklin County
      • This Margaret is located in Franklin County and lies 266 miles [428.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Margaret that is located in Harrison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Margaret.
      • Northampton 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 North Carolina community of Margaret [Northampton County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • This Margaret is located in Armstrong County and lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Margaret that is located in Harrison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of Margaret.
    • Tennessee
      • Hawkins 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 Tennessee community of Margaret [Hawkins County].
    • Texas
      • Foard County
      • This Margaret is located in Foard County and lies 1,123 miles [1,807.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Margaret that is located in Harrison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Foard County community of Margaret.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Margaret ...

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.

  • Alliance
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Alliance is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
  • Big Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Big Run is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
  • Brink
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brink is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brink
  • Brown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Brown is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
  • Curtisville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Curtisville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
  • Deep Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Deep Valley is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Valley
  • Dixie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Dixie is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
  • Jimtown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jimtown is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
  • Joetown
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Joetown is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joetown
  • Pricetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pricetown is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pricetown
  • Rosebud
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Rosebud is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosebud
  • Stringtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Stringtown is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown

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

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

  • Clarksburg, which is the Seat of Harrison County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Margaret to Clarksburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 186 miles [299.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,015 miles [9,680.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,730 miles [10,830.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,606 miles [7,412.6 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 from Point A (ie- Margaret) 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 Margaret 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 Margaret 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 Margaret. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4584, Longitude: -80.4434       In this case, the coordinates for Margaret have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.905 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.817 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.974 degrees.