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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Spruce Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spruce Valley 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 Spruce Valley:
    • 37.884827, -81.824564
    • 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 Spruce Valley
  • 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 Logan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Logan County
    • Since Spruce Valley is near Boone County and also Wyoming County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Boone County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming 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 Spruce Valley

Communities Also Named Spruce Valley ...

We found one communities that are also named Spruce Valley.

Within West Virginia, the name Spruce Valley is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, there is another community also named Spruce Valley in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Spruce Valley lies 1,858 miles [2,990.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Spruce Valley that is located in Logan County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Spruce Valley ...

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.

  • Argyle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Argyle is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
  • Blair
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Blair is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
  • Chambers
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chambers is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers
  • Clothier
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Clothier is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clothier
  • Coal Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Coal Valley is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
  • Ethel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Ethel is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
  • Five Block
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Five Block is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Block
  • Freeze Fork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Freeze Fork is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeze Fork
  • Kelly
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kelly is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
  • Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake
  • Sodom
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Sodom is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodom
  • Sovereign
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sovereign is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sovereign
  • Stark
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Stark is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stark
  • Wanda
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Wanda is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanda

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

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

  • Logan, which is the Seat of Logan County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Spruce Valley to Logan, with an average speed<2> 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 33 miles [53.1 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 268 miles [431.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,142 miles [9,884.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,855 miles [11,032.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,730 miles [7,612.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Spruce Valley) 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 Spruce Valley 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 Spruce Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8848, Longitude: -81.8246       In this case, the coordinates for Spruce Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.785 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.586 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.094 degrees.