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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Whetstone, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whetstone 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 Whetstone:
    • 38.501767, -81.055663
    • 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 Whetstone
  • 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Since Whetstone is near Roane County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Whetstone

Communities Also Named Whetstone ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Whetstone.

Within West Virginia, the name Whetstone is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Cochise County
      • This Whetstone is located in Cochise County and lies 1,704 miles [2,742.3 km]<1> to the west of the Whetstone that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cochise County community of Whetstone.
    • Kentucky
      • Cumberland 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 Kentucky community of Whetstone [Cumberland County].
      • Pulaski County
      • This Whetstone is located in Pulaski County and lies 206 miles [331.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Whetstone that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Whetstone.
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Whetstone is located in Montgomery County and lies 212 miles [341.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Whetstone that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Whetstone.
    • North Carolina
      • Granville 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 Whetstone [Granville County].
    • Ohio
      • Crawford County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Crawford County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Whetstone.
      • Franklin 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 Ohio community of Whetstone [Franklin County].
      • Morrow 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 Ohio community of Whetstone [Morrow County].
    • South Carolina
      • Oconee County
      • This Whetstone is located in Oconee County and lies 279 miles [449 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Whetstone that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of Whetstone.
    • Tennessee
      • Morgan 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 Tennessee community of Whetstone [Morgan County].
    • Washington
      • Columbia County
      • This Whetstone is located in Columbia County and lies 1,935 miles [3,114.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Whetstone that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Whetstone.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Whetstone ...

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.

  • Clay
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Clay Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Clay Junction is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Junction
  • Dink
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Dink is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dink
  • Ivydale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ivydale is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivydale
  • Jamestown ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jamestown is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
  • Kidtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Kidtown is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kidtown
  • Little Italy
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Little Italy is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
  • Sand Fork
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sand Fork is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Fork
  • Spread
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Spread is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spread
  • Two Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Two Run is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Run

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

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

  • Clay, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 32 miles [51.5 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Whetstone to Charleston, with an average speed<5> 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 218 miles [350.8 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 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,083 miles [9,789.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,796 miles [10,937.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,671 miles [7,517.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Whetstone) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Whetstone 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 Whetstone, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Whetstone 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 Whetstone. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5018, Longitude: -81.0557       In this case, the coordinates for Whetstone have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.308 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.133 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.565 degrees.