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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rock Oak, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rock Oak 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 Rock Oak:
    • 39.148439, -78.735850
    • 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 Rock Oak
  • 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 Hardy County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardy County
    • Since Rock Oak is near Hampshire County and also Mineral County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampshire County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mineral 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 Rock Oak

Communities Also Named Rock Oak ...

We found one communities that are also named Rock Oak.

Within West Virginia, the name Rock Oak is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, there is another community also named Rock Oak in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Athens County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Athens County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Rock Oak.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rock Oak ...

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.

  • Bean Settlement
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bean Settlement is located in Hardy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bean Settlement
  • Fort Run
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fort Run is located in Hardy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Run
  • Frenchburg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Frenchburg is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchburg
  • Furnace ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Furnace is located in Hardy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace
  • Inkerman
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Inkerman is located in Hardy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkerman
  • Kirby
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Kirby is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirby
  • Meadow
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Meadow is located in Hardy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow
  • Needmore
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Needmore is located in Hardy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
  • Pancake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Pancake is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancake
  • Sector
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Sector is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sector
  • Shanks
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Shanks is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanks
  • Yellow Spring
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Rock Oak and extending to:

  • Moorefield, which is the Seat of Hardy County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rock Oak to Moorefield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 165 miles [265.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 92 miles [148.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,958 miles [9,588.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,668 miles [10,731.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,544 miles [7,312.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Rock Oak, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rock Oak) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Oak 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 Rock Oak. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1484, Longitude: -78.7358       In this case, the coordinates for Rock Oak have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.886 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.61 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.342 degrees.