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 Welch:
37.431824, -81.584510
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.
We found eighteen communities that are also named Welch.
Within West Virginia, the name Welch is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of eighteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eighteen communities, seventeen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Chambers County
This Welch is located in Chambers County and lies 367 miles [590.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Welch that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chambers County community of Welch.
Arkansas
Montgomery 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 Arkansas community of Welch [Montgomery County].
California
San Joaquin 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 California community of Welch [San Joaquin County].
Georgia
Towns County
This Welch is located in Towns County and lies 212 miles [341.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Welch that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Towns County community of Welch.
Michigan
Mackinac 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 Michigan community of Welch [Mackinac County].
Ogemaw County
We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Welch [Ogemaw County].
Minnesota
Goodhue County
This Welch is located in Goodhue County and lies 760 miles [1,223.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Welch that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Goodhue County community of Welch.
Mississippi
Covington 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 Mississippi community of Welch [Covington County].
Missouri
Monroe 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 Welch [Monroe County].
Montana
Jefferson County
This Welch is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,677 miles [2,698.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Welch that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Welch.
Nebraska
Knox 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 Nebraska community of Welch [Knox County].
New Brunswick
This Welch lies 968 miles [1,557.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Welch that is located in McDowell County.
North Carolina
Chowan 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 North Carolina community of Welch [Chowan County].
Graham County
We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Welch [Graham County].
Oklahoma
Craig County
This Welch is located in Craig County and lies 743 miles [1,195.7 km]<1> to the west of the Welch that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Craig County community of Welch.
Pennsylvania
Somerset 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 Pennsylvania community of Welch [Somerset County].
Texas
Dawson County
This Welch is located in Dawson County and lies 1,197 miles [1,926.4 km]<1> to the west of the Welch that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dawson County community of Welch.
Washington
Spokane 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 Washington community of Welch [Spokane County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Welch ...
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.
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Welch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Welch and extending to:
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 63 miles [101.4 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Welch to Charleston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three 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<4> 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).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,863 miles [11,044.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,739 miles [7,626.7 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 from Point A (ie- Welch) 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 Welch 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 Welch 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 Welch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4318, Longitude: -81.5845
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.647 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.361 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.134 degrees.