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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smithburg, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithburg 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 Smithburg:
    • 39.28924, -80.734375
    • 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 Smithburg
  • 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 Doddridge County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Doddridge County
    • Since Smithburg is near Tyler County and also Harrison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tyler 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 Smithburg

Communities Also Named Smithburg ...

We found two communities that are also named Smithburg.

Within West Virginia, the name Smithburg is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Pike County
      • This Smithburg is located in Pike County and lies 784 miles [1,261.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Smithburg that is located in Doddridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Smithburg.
    • New Jersey
      • Monmouth County
      • This Smithburg is located in Monmouth County and lies 344 miles [553.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Smithburg that is located in Doddridge County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monmouth County community of Smithburg.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithburg ...

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.

  • Big Battle ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Battle is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Battle
  • Blandville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Blandville is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blandville
  • Center Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Center Point is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
  • Deep Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Deep Valley is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Valley
  • Duckworth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Flint
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Flint is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
  • Greenwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Greenwood is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Industrial
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Industrial is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial
  • Joy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Joy is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
  • Little Pittsburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Little Pittsburg is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Pittsburg
  • Long Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Long Run is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Run
  • Market
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Middle Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Middle Point is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Point
  • Sugar Camp
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sugar Camp is located in Doddridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Camp

How Far From Smithburg to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Smithburg to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • West Union, which is the Seat of Doddridge County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Smithburg to Charleston, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 199 miles [320.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,034 miles [9,710.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,750 miles [10,863.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,625 miles [7,443.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Smithburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Smithburg 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 Smithburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2892, Longitude: -80.7344    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.089 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.00 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.161 degrees.