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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in School House, we use the following websites to find information relevant to School House 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 School House:
    • 38.877582, -81.873746
    • 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 School House
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since School House is near Meigs County and also Mason County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Meigs County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mason 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 School House

Curious and Interesting Names Near School House ...

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.

  • Antiquity
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Antiquity is located in Meigs County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antiquity
  • Apple Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Apple Grove is located in Meigs County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
  • Board
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Board is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Board
  • Chestnut
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnut is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut
  • Cottageville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cottageville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottageville
  • Evergreen Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Evergreen Hills is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Hills
  • Flatwoods
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Flatwoods is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Hills Crossing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hills Crossing is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Crossing
  • Huntsville ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Huntsville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
  • Longdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Longdale is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longdale
  • Plants
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Plants is located in Meigs County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plants
  • Pleasant View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant View is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Providence
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Providence is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Willow Grove ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Willow Grove is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Grove

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of School House once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in School House and extending to:

  • Ripley, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from School House to Ripley, with an average speed<3> 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 38 miles [61.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 259 miles [416.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,099 miles [9,815.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,816 miles [10,969.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,691 miles [7,549.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 School House, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- School House) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 School House 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 School House. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8776, Longitude: -81.8737       In this case, the coordinates for School House have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.798 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.747 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.798 degrees.