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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Santiago, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Santiago 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 Santiago:
    • 39.369810, -80.201472
    • 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 Santiago
  • 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 Taylor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
    • Since Santiago is near Marion County and also Harrison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harrison 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 Santiago

Communities Also Named Santiago ...

We found ten communities that are also named Santiago.

Within West Virginia, the name Santiago is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Maricopa County
      • This Santiago is located in Maricopa County and lies 1,797 miles [2,892 km]<1> to the west of the Santiago that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Santiago.
    • Iowa
      • Polk County
      • This Santiago is located in Polk County and lies 709 miles [1,141 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Santiago that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Santiago.
    • Kansas
      • Santiago #
      • 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 Santiago.
    • Louisiana
      • Grant Parish
      • 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 Louisiana community of Santiago [Grant Parish].
    • Michigan
      • Arenac County
      • This Santiago is located in Arenac County and lies 373 miles [600.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Santiago that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arenac County community of Santiago.
    • Minnesota
      • Sherburne County
      • This Santiago is located in Sherburne County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Santiago that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sherburne County community of Santiago.
    • Missouri
      • Benton County
      • This Santiago is located in Benton County and lies 714 miles [1,149.1 km]<1> to the west of the Santiago that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Santiago.
    • Nevada
      • Ormsby County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Ormsby County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ormsby County community of Santiago.
    • New Mexico
      • Mora County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Mora County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mora County community of Santiago.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Santiago is located in Allegheny County and lies 73 miles [117.5 km]<1> to the north of the Santiago that is located in Taylor County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Santiago.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Santiago ...

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.

  • Allied
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Allied is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allied
  • Belgium
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Belgium is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgium
  • Boothsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Boothsville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boothsville
  • Enterprise
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Enterprise is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Erie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Erie is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
  • Francis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Francis is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
  • Gypsy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Gypsy is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gypsy
  • Helens Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Helens Run is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helens Run
  • Highland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Highland is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Hillview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hillview is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
  • Killarm
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Killarm is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killarm
  • Long Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Run is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Run
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Maple Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Maple Lake is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Lake
    • Meadowbrook
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • New England
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • New England is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New England
    • Oral Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Oral Lake is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral Lake
    • Saltwell
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Saltwell is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltwell
    • Wahoo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Wahoo is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahoo

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

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

  • Grafton, which is the Seat of Taylor County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Santiago to Grafton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 104 miles [167.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 172 miles [276.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,009 miles [9,670.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,724 miles [10,821.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,599 miles [7,401.4 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Santiago) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Santiago 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 Santiago, 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 Santiago 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 Santiago. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3698, Longitude: -80.2015       In this case, the coordinates for Santiago have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.761 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.639 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.899 degrees.