Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Switzer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Switzer and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Switzer
- 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 Switzer:
- 37.793160, -81.987624
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Switzer
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Logan County
- Since Switzer is near Mingo County and also Boone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mingo County
- eBird sighting report for Boone 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Switzer ...
We found six communities that share the name Switzer.
There is one other community in West Virginia which is also named Switzer.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In West Virginia ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Switzer ...
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.
- Black Bottom
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Bottom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Black Bottom is located in Logan County
- Dog Patch
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Don
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Frogtown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Hedgeview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgeview
- Hedgeview is located in Logan County
- Monitor
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Ridgeview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Rum Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rum Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rum Junction
- Rum Junction is located in Logan County
- Shamrock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Sunbeam
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Superior Bottom
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Superior Bottom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior Bottom
- Superior Bottom is located in Logan County
- Trace Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trace Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trace Junction
- Trace Junction is located in Logan County
- Walnut Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Walnut Hill is located in Logan County
How Far From Switzer 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 Switzer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Switzer and extending to:
- Logan, which is the Seat of Logan County, lies just to the North.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Switzer to Charleston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 278 miles [447.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,153 miles [9,902.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,866 miles [11,049.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,741 miles [7,629.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Switzer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Switzer 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. |
| <2> | 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- Switzer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Switzer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7932, Longitude: -81.9876 In this case, the coordinates for Switzer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Switzer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.885 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.687 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.192 degrees. |