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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Modoc, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Modoc and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Modoc:
    • 38.024286, -80.345075
    • 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 Modoc
  • 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 Greenbrier County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greenbrier County
    • Since Modoc is near Pocahontas County and also Webster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pocahontas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Webster 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 Modoc

Communities Also Named Modoc ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Modoc.

Within West Virginia, the name Modoc is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Phillips County
      • This Modoc is located in Phillips County and lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Phillips County community of Modoc.
    • Georgia
      • Emanuel County
      • This Modoc is located in Emanuel County and lies 386 miles [621.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Emanuel County community of Modoc.
    • Illinois
      • Randolph County
      • This Modoc is located in Randolph County and lies 526 miles [846.5 km]<1> to the west of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Modoc.
    • Indiana
      • Randolph County
      • This Modoc is located in Randolph County and lies 291 miles [468.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Modoc.
    • Kansas
      • Jewell 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 Modoc [Jewell County].
      • Scott County
      • This Modoc is located in Scott County and lies 1,122 miles [1,805.7 km]<1> to the west of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Modoc.
    • Kentucky
      • Cumberland County
      • This Modoc is located in Cumberland County and lies 286 miles [460.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Modoc.
    • Missouri
      • Audrain County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Audrain County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Audrain County community of Modoc.
    • New Mexico
      • Dona Ana 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 New Mexico community of Modoc [Dona Ana County].
    • Ohio
      • Athens County
      • This Modoc is located in Athens County and lies 138 miles [222.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Modoc.
    • South Carolina
      • McCormick County
      • This Modoc is located in McCormick County and lies 314 miles [505.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Modoc that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McCormick County community of Modoc.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Modoc ...

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.

  • Droop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Droop is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Droop
  • Droop Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Droop Mountain is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Droop Mountain
  • Falling Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Falling Spring is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Spring
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Friars Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Friars Hill is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friars Hill
  • Golden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Golden is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden
  • Julia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Julia is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julia
  • Leonard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Leonard is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
  • Locust
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Locust is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust
  • Oscar
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Oscar is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
  • Spring Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Spring Creek is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
  • Sunlight
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Sunlight is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunlight
  • Trout
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Trout is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout

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

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

  • Lewisburg, which is the Seat of Greenbrier County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Modoc to Lewisburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 73 miles [117.5 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 188 miles [302.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,074 miles [9,775.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,784 miles [10,917.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,660 miles [7,499.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Modoc) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Modoc 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 Modoc, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Modoc 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 Modoc. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0243, Longitude: -80.3451       In this case, the coordinates for Modoc have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.893 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.588 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.421 degrees.