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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Murphytown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Murphytown 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 Murphytown:
    • 39.233964, -81.443454
    • 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 Murphytown
  • 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 Wood County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wood County
    • Since Murphytown is near Washington County and also Wirt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wirt 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 Murphytown

Communities Also Named Murphytown ...

We found one communities that are also named Murphytown.

Within West Virginia, the name Murphytown is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, there is another community also named Murphytown in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • North Carolina
      • Bladen County
      • This Murphytown is located in Bladen County and lies 357 miles [574.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Murphytown that is located in Wood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bladen County community of Murphytown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Murphytown ...

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.

  • Boreman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Boreman is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boreman
  • Cedar Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Cool Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cool Springs is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Springs
  • Creels
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Creels is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creels
  • Hillcrest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillcrest is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Mineral Wells
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pettyville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pettyville is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettyville
  • Red Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Red Hill is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Scenic Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Scenic Hills is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Hills
  • Sunrise
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunrise is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise
  • Sunset Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunset Heights is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Heights
  • Tallyho
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Tallyho is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallyho
  • Valley Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Valley Mills is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Mills
  • Woodland Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodland Park is located in Wood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

How Far From Murphytown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Murphytown to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Parkersburg, which is the Seat of Wood County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 61 miles [98.2 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Murphytown to Charleston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 237 miles [381.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,066 miles [9,762.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,783 miles [10,916.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,658 miles [7,496.3 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Murphytown) 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 Murphytown 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 Murphytown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2340, Longitude: -81.4435       In this case, the coordinates for Murphytown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.525 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.489 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.491 degrees.