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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Spring Gap, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spring Gap 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 Spring Gap:
    • 39.424263, -78.530289
    • 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 Spring Gap
  • 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 Hampshire County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampshire County
    • Since Spring Gap is near Allegany County and also Morgan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegany County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan 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 Spring Gap

Communities Also Named Spring Gap ...

We found two communities that are also named Spring Gap.

Within West Virginia, the name Spring Gap is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Tuolumne County
      • This Spring Gap is located in Tuolumne County and lies 2,218 miles [3,569.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Spring Gap that is located in Hampshire County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuolumne County community of Spring Gap.
    • Maryland
      • Allegany County
      • This Spring Gap is located in Allegany County and lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Spring Gap that is located in Hampshire County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegany County community of Spring Gap.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Spring Gap ...

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.

  • Cold Stream
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cold Stream is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Stream
  • Creekvale
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Creekvale is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creekvale
  • Fairplay
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairplay is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplay
  • Green Spring
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Spring is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring
  • Levels
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Levels is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levels
  • Little Cacapon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Little Cacapon is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Cacapon
  • Neals Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Neals Run is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neals Run
  • Paw Paw
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Points
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Points is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Points
  • Raven Rocks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Raven Rocks is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Rocks
  • Three Churches
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Three Churches is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Churches

How Far From Spring Gap 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 Spring Gap 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<3> community of Spring Gap once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Spring Gap and extending to:

  • Romney, which is the Seat of Hampshire County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Spring Gap to Romney, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 182 miles [292.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 87 miles [140 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,938 miles [9,556.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,648 miles [10,698.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,524 miles [7,280.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Spring Gap) 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>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 Spring Gap, 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 Spring Gap 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 Spring Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4243, Longitude: -78.5303       In this case, the coordinates for Spring Gap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.748 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.495 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.151 degrees.