Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ruffin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ruffin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ruffin
- 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 Ruffin:
- 35.670912, -90.571775
- 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 Ruffin
- 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 Poinsett County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Poinsett County
- Since Ruffin is near Craighead County and also Cross County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Craighead County
- eBird sighting report for Cross 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 Ruffin ...
We found three communities that share the name Ruffin.
Within Arkansas, the name Ruffin is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ruffin ...
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.
- Buffalolick ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalolick have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalolick
- Buffalolick is located in Poinsett County
- Davis Spur
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davis Spur have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis Spur
- Davis Spur is located in Craighead County
- Elm Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Hatchie Coon
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hatchie Coon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchie Coon
- Hatchie Coon is located in Poinsett County
- Huskey
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Judd Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Longwill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Maple Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Poinsett County
- Promised Land
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Promised Land have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Promised Land
- Promised Land is located in Poinsett County
- Shady Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Poinsett County
- Stacy
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Walnut Grove Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove Corner
- Walnut Grove Corner is located in Poinsett County
How Far From Ruffin 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 Ruffin 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<5> community of Ruffin once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ruffin and extending to:
- Harrisburg, which is the Seat of Poinsett County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ruffin to Harrisburg, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 115 miles [185.1 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 775 miles [1,247.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,598 miles [10,618.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,325 miles [11,788.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,201 miles [8,370.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Poinsett County: www.poinsettco.com/
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ruffin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ruffin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6709, Longitude: -90.5718 In this case, the coordinates for Ruffin 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 Ruffin 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> | 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. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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 Ruffin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Ruffin 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 316.157 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.452 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.448 degrees. |