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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Vale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vale and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Vale:
    • 37.880629, -80.721671
    • 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 Vale
  • 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 Greenbrier County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greenbrier County
    • Since Vale is near Fayette County and also Summers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Summers 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 Vale

Communities Also Named Vale ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Vale.

Within West Virginia, the name Vale is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Solano County
      • This Vale is located in Solano County and lies 2,212 miles [3,559.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Solano County community of Vale.
    • Maryland
      • Harford County
      • This Vale is located in Harford County and lies 259 miles [416.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Vale.
    • Missouri
      • Douglas 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 Missouri community of Vale [Douglas County].
      • Jackson County
      • This Vale is located in Jackson County and lies 745 miles [1,199 km]<1> to the west of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Vale.
    • North Carolina
      • Avery County
      • This Vale is located in Avery County and lies 140 miles [225.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Avery County community of Vale.
      • Lincoln County
      • This Vale is located in Lincoln County and lies 165 miles [265.5 km] to the south southwest of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Vale.
    • Oregon
      • Malheur County
      • This Vale is located in Malheur County and lies 1,934 miles [3,112.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Malheur County community of Vale.
    • South Dakota
      • Butte County
      • This Vale is located in Butte County and lies 1,260 miles [2,027.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butte County community of Vale.
    • Tennessee
      • Carroll County
      • This Vale is located in Carroll County and lies 433 miles [696.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Vale.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This Vale is located in Fairfax County and lies 195 miles [313.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vale that is located in Greenbrier County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Vale.
    • Wisconsin
      • Chippewa 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 Wisconsin community of Vale [Chippewa County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vale ...

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.

  • Blue Sulphur Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Blue Sulphur Springs is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Sulphur Springs
  • Crag
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Crag is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crag
  • Dennis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Dennis is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
  • Elton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Elton is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elton
  • Farmdale
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Farmdale is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmdale
  • Grassy Meadows
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Grassy Meadows is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Meadows
  • Hickory Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Lawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lawn is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawn
  • Lilly Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lilly Park is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilly Park
  • Meadow Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Meadow Bluff is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Bluff
  • Sturgeon Branch ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sturgeon Branch is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeon Branch

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

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

  • Lewisburg, which is the Seat of Greenbrier County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Vale to Lewisburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 58 miles [93.3 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 211 miles [339.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 6,097 miles [9,812.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,806 miles [10,953.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,682 miles [7,534.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Vale) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Vale 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 Vale 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 Vale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8806, Longitude: -80.7217    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.122 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.828 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.627 degrees.