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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mechanicstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mechanicstown 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 Mechanicstown:
    • 39.260657, -77.829439
    • 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 Mechanicstown
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Mechanicstown is near Loudoun County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Mechanicstown

Communities Also Named Mechanicstown ...

We found two communities that are also named Mechanicstown.

Within West Virginia, the name Mechanicstown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Orange County
      • This Mechanicstown is located in Orange County and lies 235 miles [378.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Mechanicstown that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Mechanicstown.
    • Ohio
      • Carroll County
      • This Mechanicstown is located in Carroll County and lies 190 miles [305.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Mechanicstown that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Mechanicstown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mechanicstown ...

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.

  • Blair
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Blair is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
  • Halltown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Halltown is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halltown
  • Harmony ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Harmony is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Harpers Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Keys Gap
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Keys Gap is located in Loudoun County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Gap
  • Lower Town
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lower Town is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Town
  • Mechanicsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Loudoun County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Mountain Mission
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Mission is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Mission
  • Silver Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Silver Grove is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Grove
  • Summit Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Summit Point is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Point
  • Sunny Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sunny Ridge is located in Loudoun County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Ridge
  • Wheatland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wheatland is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland

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

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

  • Charles Town, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 213 miles [342.8 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Mechanicstown to Charleston, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 49 miles [78.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,915 miles [9,519.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,624 miles [10,660.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,500 miles [7,242 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- Mechanicstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Mechanicstown 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 Mechanicstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2607, Longitude: -77.8294       In this case, the coordinates for Mechanicstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.337 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.004 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.911 degrees.