Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Venus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Venus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Venus
- 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 Venus:
- 37.362059, -81.536773
- 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 Venus
- 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDowell County
- Since Venus is near Tazewell County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
- eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Venus ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Venus.
Within West Virginia, the name Venus is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Dade 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 Florida community of Venus [Dade County].
- Highlands County
- This Venus is located in Highlands County and lies 710 miles [1,142.6 km]<1> to the south of the Venus that is located in McDowell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Highlands County community of Venus.
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Antelope County
- Although located in Antelope County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Antelope County community of Venus.
- Knox County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Venus [Knox County].
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Venus ...
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.
- Antler
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Big Four
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Four
- Big Four is located in McDowell County
- Black Wolf
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Wolf have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Wolf
- Black Wolf is located in McDowell County
- Bottom Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bottom Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Creek
- Bottom Creek is located in McDowell County
- Clark ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Cucumber
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Elkhorn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Elkhorn is located in McDowell County
- Filbert
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Gary
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Hemphill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Jenkinjones
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jenkinjones have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkinjones
- Jenkinjones is located in McDowell County
- Keystone
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keystone have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Keystone is located in McDowell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <5>
- Premier
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Skygusty
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Superior
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Hemphill
How Far From Venus 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 Venus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Venus and extending to:
- Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Venus to Charleston, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 266 miles [428.1 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,154 miles [9,903.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,864 miles [11,046.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,740 miles [7,628.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Venus. 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Venus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Venus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3621, Longitude: -81.5368 In this case, the coordinates for Venus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Venus 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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Venus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Venus to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.619 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.319 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.135 degrees. |