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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in National, we use the following websites to find information relevant to National 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 National:
    • 39.583972, -80.037569
    • 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 National
  • 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 Monongalia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monongalia County
    • Since National is near Marion County and also Greene 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 Greene 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 National

Communities Also Named National ...

We found eleven communities that are also named National.

Within West Virginia, the name National is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Hot Spring County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of National [Hot Spring County].
      • Logan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of National [Logan County].
    • Colorado
      • Weld County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of National [Weld County].
    • Indiana
      • Monroe County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of National [Monroe County].
    • Iowa
      • Clayton County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of National [Clayton County].
    • Maryland
      • Allegany County
      • This National is located in Allegany County and lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<2> to the east of the National that is located in Monongalia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegany County community of National.
    • Michigan
      • Iron County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of National [Iron County].
      • Marquette County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of National [Marquette County].
    • Nevada
      • Humboldt 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 Nevada community of National [Humboldt County].
    • Utah
      • Carbon County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Carbon County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of National.
    • Washington
      • Pierce County
      • This National is located in Pierce County and lies 2,146 miles [3,453.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the National that is located in Monongalia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of National.

Curious and Interesting Names Near National ...

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.

  • Booth
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Booth is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booth
  • Crown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Crown is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
  • Edna
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Edna is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
  • Everettville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Everettville is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everettville
  • Flaggy Meadow
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Flaggy Meadow is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaggy Meadow
  • Fort Grand
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Fort Grand is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Grand
  • Georgetown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Georgetown is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Harmony Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Harmony Grove is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
  • Jordan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jordan is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
  • Little Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Falls is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls
  • Lowsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Lowsville is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowsville
  • Price Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Price Hill is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Hill
  • Richwood ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Richwood is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood

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

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

  • Morgantown, which is the Seat of Monongalia County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from National to Charleston, with an average speed<4>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 167 miles [268.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,993 miles [9,644.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,708 miles [10,795.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,583 miles [7,375.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 National 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- National) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 National, 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 National 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 National. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5840, Longitude: -80.0376       In this case, the coordinates for National have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.652 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.548 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.751 degrees.