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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rand, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rand 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 Rand:
    • 38.506487, -81.245950
    • 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 Rand
  • 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 Kanawha County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kanawha County
    • Since Rand is near Clay County and also Roane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane 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 Rand

Communities Also Named Rand ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Rand.

Within West Virginia, the name Rand is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Kern County
      • This Rand is located in Kern County and lies 2,008 miles [3,231.6 km]<1> to the west of the Rand that is located in Kanawha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Rand.
    • Colorado
      • Jackson County
      • This Rand is located in Jackson County and lies 1,331 miles [2,142 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Rand that is located in Kanawha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Rand.
      • Larimer 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 Colorado community of Rand [Larimer County].
    • Michigan
      • Isabella 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 Michigan community of Rand [Isabella County].
    • Nevada
      • Mineral 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 Rand [Mineral County].
    • New Hampshire
      • Cheshire County
      • This Rand is located in Cheshire County and lies 563 miles [906.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rand that is located in Kanawha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cheshire County community of Rand.
    • Ontario
      • This Rand lies 620 miles [997.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Rand that is located in Kanawha County.
    • Oregon
      • Josephine County
      • This Rand is located in Josephine County and lies 2,215 miles [3,564.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Rand that is located in Kanawha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Josephine County community of Rand.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny 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 Pennsylvania community of Rand [Allegheny County].
      • Union County
      • This Rand is located in Union County and lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rand that is located in Kanawha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Rand.
    • Texas
      • Kaufman County
      • This Rand is located in Kaufman County and lies 933 miles [1,501.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rand that is located in Kanawha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kaufman County community of Rand.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rand ...

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.

  • Cotton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cotton is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton
  • Falling Rock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Falling Rock is located in Kanawha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Rock
  • Glen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Glen is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen
  • Heatherman ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Heatherman is located in Kanawha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heatherman
  • Kelly Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Kelly Hill is located in Kanawha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Hill
  • King
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • King is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Pigeon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pigeon is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
  • Queen Shoals
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Queen Shoals is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Shoals
  • Reamer
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Reamer is located in Kanawha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reamer

How Far From Rand to ...

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

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

  • Charleston, which is the Seat of Kanawha County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rand to Charleston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 23 miles [37 km] to the west southwest (WSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 228 miles [366.9 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 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,090 miles [9,800.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,804 miles [10,950 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,679 miles [7,530.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Rand) 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 Rand 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>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 Rand, 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 Rand 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 Rand. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5065, Longitude: -81.2459       In this case, the coordinates for Rand have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.423 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.265 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.646 degrees.