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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sand Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sand Ridge 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 Sand Ridge:
    • 38.801757, -81.066778
    • 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 Sand Ridge
  • 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Since Sand Ridge is near Gilmer County and also Braxton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gilmer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Braxton 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 Sand Ridge

Communities Also Named Sand Ridge ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Sand Ridge.

Within West Virginia, the name Sand Ridge is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Logan County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Logan County and lies 730 miles [1,174.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Sand Ridge.
    • Georgia
      • Richmond County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Richmond County and lies 378 miles [608.3 km]<1> to the south of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richmond County community of Sand Ridge.
    • Illinois
      • Grundy County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Grundy County and lies 423 miles [680.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grundy County community of Sand Ridge.
      • Jackson County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Jackson County and lies 459 miles [738.7 km] to the west of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Sand Ridge.
    • Indiana
      • Spencer County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Spencer County and lies 336 miles [540.7 km]<1> to the west of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spencer County community of Sand Ridge.
    • Michigan
      • Saginaw 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 Sand Ridge [Saginaw County].
    • New York
      • Erie County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Erie County and lies 313 miles [503.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Sand Ridge.
      • Oswego County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Oswego County and lies 397 miles [638.9 km] to the northeast of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oswego County community of Sand Ridge.
    • Ohio
      • Athens 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 Ohio community of Sand Ridge [Athens County].
    • South Carolina
      • Greenwood County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Greenwood County and lies 331 miles [532.7 km]<1> to the south of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenwood County community of Sand Ridge.
      • Horry County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Horry County and lies 361 miles [581 km] to the south southeast of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Horry County community of Sand Ridge.
    • Tennessee
      • Henderson County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Henderson County and lies 460 miles [740.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Sand Ridge.
    • Texas
      • Houston County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Houston County and lies 981 miles [1,578.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Houston County community of Sand Ridge.
      • Wharton County
      • This Sand Ridge is located in Wharton County and lies 1,080 miles [1,738.1 km] to the west southwest of the Sand Ridge that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wharton County community of Sand Ridge.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sand Ridge ...

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.

  • Adam
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Adam is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adam
  • Beech
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Beech is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech
  • Chloe
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Chloe is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chloe
  • Euclid
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Euclid is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
  • Henrietta
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Henrietta is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
  • Index ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Index is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Index
  • Leatherbark
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Leatherbark is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherbark
  • Liberty Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Liberty Hill is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
  • Millstone
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Millstone is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
  • Normantown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Rosedale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Rosedale is located in Braxton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Shock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Shock is located in Gilmer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shock
  • Stumptown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Stumptown is located in Gilmer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stumptown
  • Walnut
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Walnut is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut

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

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

  • Grantsville, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies just to the North.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 43 miles [69.2 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Sand Ridge to Charleston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full 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 216 miles [347.6 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 6,070 miles [9,768.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,784 miles [10,917.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,660 miles [7,499.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Sand Ridge) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Sand Ridge 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 Sand Ridge 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 Sand Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8018, Longitude: -81.0668       In this case, the coordinates for Sand Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.307 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.176 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.471 degrees.