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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Peniel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Peniel 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 Peniel:
    • 38.827309, -81.467622
    • 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 Peniel
  • 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Since Peniel is near Jackson County and also Wirt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Peniel

Communities Also Named Peniel ...

We found five communities that are also named Peniel.

Within West Virginia, the name Peniel is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Putnam County
      • This Peniel is located in Putnam County and lies 635 miles [1,021.9 km]<1> to the south of the Peniel that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Peniel.
    • North Carolina
      • Polk County
      • This Peniel is located in Polk County and lies 250 miles [402.3 km]<1> to the south of the Peniel that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Peniel.
    • Ohio
      • Gallia County
      • This Peniel is located in Gallia County and lies 57 miles [91.7 km]<1> to the west of the Peniel that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gallia County community of Peniel.
    • South Carolina
      • Florence 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 South Carolina community of Peniel [Florence County].
    • Texas
      • Hunt County
      • This Peniel is located in Hunt County and lies 906 miles [1,458.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Peniel that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunt County community of Peniel.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Peniel ...

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.

  • Buffalo ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Buffalo is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
  • Clarence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Clarence is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
  • Dukes
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Dukes is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dukes
  • Flint Town
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Flint Town is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Town
  • Gay
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Gay is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay
  • Geneva
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Geneva is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Green Acres
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Green Acres is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • LeRoy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • LeRoy is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LeRoy
  • Leaning Oak
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Leaning Oak is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaning Oak
  • Leo ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Leo is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leo
  • Liverpool
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Liverpool is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liverpool
  • Marshall
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Marshall is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Nancy Run
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Nancy Run is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy Run
    • Quiet Vale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Quiet Vale is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Vale
    • Reedy
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Reedy is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
    • Reedyville
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Reedyville is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedyville
    • Sandy Summit
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandy Summit is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Summit
    • Seaman
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Seaman is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaman
    • Sunflower
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Sunflower is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunflower

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

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

  • Spencer, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 34 miles [54.7 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Peniel to Charleston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 238 miles [383 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 6,085 miles [9,792.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,800 miles [10,943.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,676 miles [7,525.3 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Peniel) 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 Peniel 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 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 Peniel 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 Peniel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8273, Longitude: -81.4676       In this case, the coordinates for Peniel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.55 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.457 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.637 degrees.