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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shoals, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shoals 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 Shoals:
    • 38.327028, -82.475155
    • 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 Shoals
  • 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 Wayne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne County
    • Since Shoals is near Cabell County and also Boyd County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cabell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Boyd 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 Shoals

Communities Also Named Shoals ...

We found seven communities that are also named Shoals.

Within West Virginia, the name Shoals is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Delaware
      • Sussex County
      • This Shoals is located in Sussex County and lies 401 miles [645.3 km]<1> to the east of the Shoals that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sussex County community of Shoals.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Shoals is located in Hillsborough County and lies 722 miles [1,161.9 km]<1> to the south of the Shoals that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Shoals.
    • Georgia
      • Warren 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 Georgia community of Shoals [Warren County].
    • Indiana
      • Martin County
      • This Shoals is located in Martin County and lies 234 miles [376.6 km]<1> to the west of the Shoals that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Martin County community of Shoals.
    • North Carolina
      • Surry County
      • This Shoals is located in Surry County and lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Shoals that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Surry County community of Shoals.
    • Oklahoma
      • Choctaw County
      • This Shoals is located in Choctaw County and lies 782 miles [1,258.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Shoals that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Choctaw County community of Shoals.
    • South Carolina
      • Anderson County
      • This Shoals is located in Anderson County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the south of the Shoals that is located in Wayne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Shoals.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shoals ...

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.

  • Buffalo Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Buffalo Creek is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Creek
  • Centerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Centerville is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Chancellor Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chancellor Hills is located in Cabell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chancellor Hills
  • Dickson
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dickson is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickson
  • Garden Farms
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Garden Farms is located in Cabell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Farms
  • Glenroy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Glenroy is located in Lawrence County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenroy
  • Harveytown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Harveytown is located in Cabell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveytown
  • Lockdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lockdale is located in Lawrence County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockdale
  • Meadow Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadow Haven is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Haven
  • Neal
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Neal is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neal
  • Park Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Park Hills is located in Cabell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hills
  • Savage Branch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Savage Branch is located in Boyd County (KY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savage Branch
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Spring Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Sweet Run
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sweet Run is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Run
    • Walnut Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Walnut Park is located in Lawrence County (OH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Park
    • Willowvale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Willowvale is located in Lawrence County (OH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowvale

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

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

  • Wayne, which is the Seat of Wayne County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 45 miles [72.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Shoals to Charleston, with an average speed<3> 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 most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 296 miles [476.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,149 miles [9,895.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,865 miles [11,048.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,740 miles [7,628.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Shoals) 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 Shoals 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 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 Shoals 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 Shoals. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3270, Longitude: -82.4752       In this case, the coordinates for Shoals have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.175 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.097 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.236 degrees.