RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Jefferson County >> Ray Station >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ray Station, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ray Station 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 Ray Station:
    • 34.223709, -91.819577
    • 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 Ray Station
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Ray Station is near Arkansas County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arkansas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Ray Station

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ray Station ...

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.

  • Cornerstone
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cornerstone is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerstone
  • Cottondale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cottondale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottondale
  • Glenlake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenlake is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenlake
  • Greenback Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenback Ferry is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenback Ferry
  • Lake Dick
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Dick is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Dick
  • Moscow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Moscow is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
  • Noble Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Noble Lake is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble Lake
  • Rob Roy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rob Roy is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rob Roy
  • Sweden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sweden is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweden

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Ray Station once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ray Station and extending to:

  • Pine Bluff, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Ray Station to Pine Bluff, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 43 miles [69.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 879 miles [1,414.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,719 miles [10,813.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,445 miles [11,981.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,321 miles [8,563.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Ray Station, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ray Station) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Ray Station 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 Ray Station. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2237, Longitude: -91.8196       In this case, the coordinates for Ray Station have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.843 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.054 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.26 degrees.