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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Vandalia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vandalia 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 Vandalia:
    • 38.759533, -81.444288
    • 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 Vandalia
  • 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Since Vandalia is near Jackson County and also Wirt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wirt 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 Vandalia

Communities Also Named Vandalia ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Vandalia.

There are two communities within West Virginia that are also named Vandalia.

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

  • Communities Located In West Virginia ...
    • Kanawha County
      • This Vandalia is located in Kanawha County and lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kanawha County community of Vandalia.
    • Lewis County
      • This Vandalia is located in Lewis County and lies 57 miles [91.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis County community of Vandalia.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Fayette County
      • This Vandalia is located in Fayette County and lies 411 miles [661.4 km]<1> to the west of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Vandalia.
    • Indiana
      • Clay 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 Indiana community of Vandalia [Clay County].
      • Owen County
      • This Vandalia is located in Owen County and lies 293 miles [471.5 km]<1> to the west of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Owen County community of Vandalia.
    • Iowa
      • Jasper County
      • This Vandalia is located in Jasper County and lies 654 miles [1,052.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jasper County community of Vandalia.
    • Michigan
      • Cass County
      • This Vandalia is located in Cass County and lies 320 miles [515 km]<1> to the northwest of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Vandalia.
    • Missouri
      • Audrain County
      • This Vandalia is located in Audrain County and lies 539 miles [867.4 km]<1> to the west of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Audrain County community of Vandalia.
    • Montana
      • Valley County
      • This Vandalia is located in Valley County and lies 1,426 miles [2,294.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valley County community of Vandalia.
    • New York
      • Cattaraugus County
      • This Vandalia is located in Cattaraugus County and lies 275 miles [442.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cattaraugus County community of Vandalia.
    • North Carolina
      • Guilford County
      • This Vandalia is located in Guilford County and lies 210 miles [338 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guilford County community of Vandalia.
    • Ohio
      • Montgomery County
      • This Vandalia is located in Montgomery County and lies 166 miles [267.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Vandalia.
    • Texas
      • Red River County
      • This Vandalia is located in Red River County and lies 832 miles [1,339 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Vandalia that is located in Roane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Red River County community of Vandalia.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vandalia ...

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.

  • Clarence
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarence is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
  • Countsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Countsville is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countsville
  • Flatfork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Flatfork is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatfork
  • Flint Town
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Flint Town is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Town
  • Gay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Gay is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay
  • Geneva
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Geneva is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Green Acres
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Harmony
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Harmony is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Jingo ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jingo is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jingo
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Leaning Oak
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Leaning Oak is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaning Oak
    • Leo ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Leo is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leo
    • Quiet Vale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Quiet Vale is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Vale
    • Red Knob
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Red Knob is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Knob
    • Reedyville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Reedyville is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedyville
    • Speed
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Speed is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speed

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

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

  • Spencer, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Vandalia to Charleston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 237 miles [381.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,087 miles [9,796.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,802 miles [10,946.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,678 miles [7,528.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Vandalia) 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 Vandalia 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 Vandalia 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 Vandalia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7595, Longitude: -81.4443       In this case, the coordinates for Vandalia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.538 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.433 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.649 degrees.