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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Steelton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Steelton 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 Steelton:
    • 39.684521, -80.857320
    • 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 Steelton
  • 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 Wetzel County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wetzel County
    • Since Steelton is near Monroe County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Steelton

Communities Also Named Steelton ...

We found eight communities that are also named Steelton.

Within West Virginia, the name Steelton is unique.

Beyond West Virginia, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Vermilion County
      • This Steelton is located in Vermilion County and lies 362 miles [582.6 km]<1> to the west of the Steelton that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermilion County community of Steelton.
      • Whiteside 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 Illinois community of Steelton [Whiteside County].
    • Kentucky
      • Daviess 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 Kentucky community of Steelton [Daviess County].
    • Minnesota
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Steelton is located in Saint Louis County and lies 747 miles [1,202.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Steelton that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Steelton.
    • New York
      • Erie 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 New York community of Steelton [Erie County].
    • Ohio
      • Franklin County
      • This Steelton is located in Franklin County and lies 114 miles [183.5 km]<1> to the west of the Steelton that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Steelton.
    • Ontario
      • This Steelton lies 503 miles [809.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Steelton that is located in Wetzel County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Dauphin County
      • This Steelton is located in Dauphin County and lies 216 miles [347.6 km]<1> to the east of the Steelton that is located in Wetzel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dauphin County community of Steelton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Steelton ...

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.

  • Andy ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Andy is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andy
  • Childs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Childs is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
  • Dairy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Dairy is located in Monroe County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dairy
  • Five Points ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Five Points is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Franklin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Franklin is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Green Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Hill is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Hannibal
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hannibal is located in Monroe County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
  • Kent
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Kent is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
  • Marion
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Marion is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
  • Minnie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Minnie is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnie
  • Peabody
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Peabody is located in Wetzel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peabody
  • Rockport ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Rockport is located in Monroe County (OH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Round Bottom
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Round Bottom is located in Monroe County (OH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bottom
    • Six Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Six Point is located in Monroe County (OH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Point
    • Stillhouse Run ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Stillhouse Run is located in Monroe County (OH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stillhouse Run
    • Veto
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Veto is located in Wetzel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veto

How Far From Steelton to ...

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

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

  • New Martinsville, which is the Seat of Wetzel County, lies just to the South.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 101 miles [162.5 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Steelton to Charleston, with an average speed<3>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 211 miles [339.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,022 miles [9,691.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,739 miles [10,845.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,614 miles [7,425.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Steelton) 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 Steelton 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 Steelton 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 Steelton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6845, Longitude: -80.8573       In this case, the coordinates for Steelton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.15 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.129 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.079 degrees.