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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Orlando, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orlando 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 Orlando:
    • 38.871140, -80.593468
    • 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 Orlando
  • 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 Braxton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Braxton County
    • Since Orlando is near Lewis County and also Gilmer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gilmer 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 Orlando

Communities Also Named Orlando ...

We found ten communities that are also named Orlando.

Within West Virginia, the name Orlando is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Cleveland County
      • This Orlando is located in Cleveland County and lies 733 miles [1,179.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Orlando that is located in Braxton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cleveland County community of Orlando.
    • Florida
      • Orange County
      • This Orlando is located in Orange County and lies 715 miles [1,150.7 km]<1> to the south of the Orlando that is located in Braxton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Orlando.
    • Kansas
      • Cheyenne 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 Orlando [Cheyenne County].
    • Kentucky
      • Rockcastle County
      • This Orlando is located in Rockcastle County and lies 224 miles [360.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Orlando that is located in Braxton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockcastle County community of Orlando.
    • Nebraska
      • Deuel 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 Nebraska community of Orlando [Deuel County].
    • New York
      • Cattaraugus County
      • This Orlando is located in Cattaraugus County and lies 256 miles [412 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Orlando that is located in Braxton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cattaraugus County community of Orlando.
    • North Carolina
      • Macon County
      • This Orlando is located in Macon County and lies 308 miles [495.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Orlando that is located in Braxton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macon County community of Orlando.
    • Oklahoma
      • Logan County
      • This Orlando is located in Logan County and lies 936 miles [1,506.3 km]<1> to the west of the Orlando that is located in Braxton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Orlando.
    • Virginia
      • Prince William 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 Virginia community of Orlando [Prince William County].
      • Suffolk City
      • This Orlando is located in Suffolk City and lies 264 miles [424.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Orlando that is located in Braxton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk City community of Orlando.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Orlando ...

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.

  • Arnold
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Arnold is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
  • Bonnie
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonnie is located in Braxton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
  • Bower
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Bower is located in Braxton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bower
  • Bulltown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Copen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Copen is located in Braxton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copen
  • Dusk
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Dusk is located in Gilmer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dusk
  • Dutch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Dutch is located in Braxton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch
  • Falls Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Gem
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gem is located in Braxton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...

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

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

  • Sutton, which is the Seat of Braxton County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Orlando to Sutton, 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 four to five hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 191 miles [307.4 km] to the east (E). 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 6,047 miles [9,731.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,761 miles [10,880.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,636 miles [7,460.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Orlando) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Orlando 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Orlando 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 Orlando. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8711, Longitude: -80.5935    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.017 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.856 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.242 degrees.