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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Neel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Neel 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 Neel:
    • 39.427866, -80.000629
    • 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 Neel
  • 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Since Neel is near Taylor County and also Monongalia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monongalia 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 Neel

Communities Also Named Neel ...

We found two communities that are also named Neel.

Within West Virginia, the name Neel is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Morgan County
      • This Neel is located in Morgan County and lies 518 miles [833.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Neel that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Neel.
    • Ohio
      • Brown County
      • This Neel is located in Brown County and lies 204 miles [328.3 km]<1> to the west of the Neel that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brown County community of Neel.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Neel ...

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.

  • Blueville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Blueville is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blueville
  • Forksburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Forksburg is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forksburg
  • Graham Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Graham Heights is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Heights
  • Gum Spring
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gum Spring is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
  • Hardman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hardman is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardman
  • Hebron
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hebron is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Hopewell
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopewell is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Independence
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Independence is located in Preston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
  • Meadowdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadowdale is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
  • Mount Harmony
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Harmony is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Harmony

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<2> community of Neel once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Neel and extending to:

  • Fairmont, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 114 miles [183.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Neel to Charleston, with an average speed<3>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 162 miles [260.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,998 miles [9,652.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,713 miles [10,803.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,588 miles [7,383.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Neel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Neel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Neel 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 Neel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4279, Longitude: -80.0006       In this case, the coordinates for Neel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.637 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.506 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.79 degrees.