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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Columbia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Columbia 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 West Columbia:
- 38.984135, -82.061630
- 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 West Columbia
- 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 Mason County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mason County
- Since West Columbia is near Meigs County and also Gallia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Meigs County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Gallia 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 West Columbia
Communities Also Named West Columbia ...
We found four communities that are also named West Columbia.
Within West Virginia, the name West Columbia is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Mississippi
- Marion County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of West Columbia [Marion County].
- Pennsylvania
- Washington County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of West Columbia [Washington County].
- South Carolina
- Lexington County
- This West Columbia is located in Lexington County and lies 349 miles [561.7 km]<2> to the south of the West Columbia that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lexington County community of West Columbia.
- Texas
- Brazoria County
- This West Columbia is located in Brazoria County and lies 1,030 miles [1,657.6 km]<2> to the southwest of the West Columbia that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brazoria County community of West Columbia.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Columbia ...
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.
- Dutchtown ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dutchtown is located in Meigs County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
- Forest Run ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Run is located in Meigs County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Run
- Lincoln Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Lincoln Heights is located in Meigs County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Heights
- Maggie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Maggie is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maggie
- Mason
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Minersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Minersville is located in Meigs County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
- Pike Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Pike Hill is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike Hill
- Rock Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Rock Springs is located in Meigs County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Rutland
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sassafras
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Silver Run
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Silver Run is located in Meigs County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Run
How Far From West Columbia 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 West Columbia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Columbia and extending to:
- Point Pleasant, which is the Seat of Mason County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Columbia to Point Pleasant, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 49 miles [78.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 269 miles [432.9 km] to the east (E). Driving 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 6,102 miles [9,820.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,820 miles [10,975.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,695 miles [7,555.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 West Columbia 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Columbia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 West Columbia 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 West Columbia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9841, Longitude: -82.0616 |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.911 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.891 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.846 degrees. |
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