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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smith Crossing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smith Crossing 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 Smith Crossing:
    • 39.054271, -79.817569
    • 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 Smith Crossing
  • 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
    • Since Smith Crossing is near Barbour County and also Tucker County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tucker 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 Smith Crossing

Communities Also Named Smith Crossing ...

We found three communities that are also named Smith Crossing.

Within West Virginia, the name Smith Crossing is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Oxford County
      • This Smith Crossing is located in Oxford County and lies 609 miles [980.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smith Crossing that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oxford County community of Smith Crossing.
    • Michigan
      • Shiawassee County
      • This Smith Crossing is located in Shiawassee County and lies 357 miles [574.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Smith Crossing that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shiawassee County community of Smith Crossing.
    • North Carolina
      • Columbus County
      • This Smith Crossing is located in Columbus County and lies 333 miles [535.9 km]<1> to the south of the Smith Crossing that is located in Randolph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbus County community of Smith Crossing.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smith Crossing ...

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.

  • Clover Run ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Clover Run is located in Tucker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Run
  • Crystal Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Flora ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Flora is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
  • Harpertown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Harpertown is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpertown
  • Junior
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Junior is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junior
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 483 people
  • Leadsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Leadsville is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadsville
  • Meadowville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadowville is located in Barbour County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowville
  • Parsons
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Pleasant Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Run is located in Tucker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pleasure Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasure Valley is located in Barbour County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasure Valley
    • Read
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Read is located in Randolph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Read
    • Stringtown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Stringtown is located in Barbour County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Texas ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Texas is located in Tucker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas
    • Valley Bend
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Weaver
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Weaver is located in Randolph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver

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

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

  • Elkins, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Smith Crossing to Elkins, 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 109 miles [175.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 149 miles [239.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,007 miles [9,667.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,720 miles [10,814.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,595 miles [7,394.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Smith Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Smith Crossing 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 Smith Crossing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0543, Longitude: -79.8176       In this case, the coordinates for Smith Crossing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.541 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.341 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.842 degrees.