Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ray, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ray and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ray
- 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:
- 40.206156, -90.475682
- 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 Ray
- 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 Schuyler County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Schuyler County
- Since Ray is near Fulton County and also McDonough County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fulton County
- eBird sighting report for McDonough 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 Ray ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Ray.
Within Illinois, the name Ray is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 26 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Baldwin 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 Alabama community of Ray [Baldwin County].
- Coosa County
- This Ray is located in Coosa County and lies 561 miles [902.8 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Ray that is located in Schuyler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coosa County community of Ray.
- Arizona
- Florida
- Indiana
- Carroll County
- This Ray is located in Carroll County and lies 208 miles [334.7 km]<2> to the east of the Ray that is located in Schuyler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Ray.
- Steuben County
- This Ray is located in Steuben County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km] to the east northeast of the Ray that is located in Schuyler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Steuben County community of Ray.
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Pawnee County
- This Ray is located in Pawnee County and lies 475 miles [764.4 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Ray that is located in Schuyler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pawnee County community of Ray.
- Sumner 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 Kansas community of Ray [Sumner County].
- Kentucky
- Lawrence County
- This Ray is located in Lawrence County and lies 447 miles [719.4 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Ray that is located in Schuyler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Ray.
- Logan 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 Kentucky community of Ray [Logan County].
- Michigan
- Branch County
- This Ray is located in Branch County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ray that is located in Schuyler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Branch County community of Ray.
- Newaygo 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 Michigan community of Ray [Newaygo County].
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- Nye County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Nye County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Ray.
- White Pine County
- This community is historic and although located in White Pine County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the White Pine County community of Ray.
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Ellis 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 Texas community of Ray [Ellis County].
- Grayson County
- This Ray is located in Grayson County and lies 553 miles [890 km]<2> to the southwest of the Ray that is located in Schuyler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grayson County community of Ray.
- Virginia
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ray ...
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.
- Frederick
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederick
- Frederick is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frederick <4>
- Industry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industry
- Industry is located in McDonough County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Industry <4>
- Leesburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Littleton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Littleton have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
- Littleton is located in Schuyler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Littleton <4>
- Pleasant View
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant View have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Pleasant View is located in Schuyler County
- Rushville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushville
- Rushville is located in Schuyler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,822 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rushville <4>
- Table Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Table Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Grove
- Table Grove is located in Fulton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Table Grove <4>
- Vermont
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermont
- Vermont is located in Fulton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vermont <4>
How Far From Ray 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 Ray to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ray and extending to:
- Rushville, which is the Seat of Schuyler County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Ray to Springfield, with an average speed<6> 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 over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 720 miles [1,158.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,368 miles [10,248.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,108 miles [11,439.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,992 miles [8,033.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ray. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Ray 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' (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- Ray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2062, Longitude: -90.4757 In this case, the coordinates for Ray have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Ray, 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> | 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. |
| <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 Ray 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 316.308 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.241 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.409 degrees. |