RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Morgan County >> Payton >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Payton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Payton 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 Payton:
    • 37.802311, -83.299068
    • 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 Payton
  • 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Since Payton is near Wolfe County and also Magoffin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wolfe County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Magoffin 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 Payton

Communities Also Named Payton ...

We found three communities that are also named Payton.

Within Kentucky, the name Payton is unique.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Butte 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 California community of Payton [Butte County].
    • Georgia
      • Fulton County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Payton [Fulton County].
    • Texas
      • Blanco County
      • This Payton is located in Blanco County and lies 1,008 miles [1,622.2 km]<3> to the west southwest of the Payton that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blanco County community of Payton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Payton ...

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.

  • Daysboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Daysboro is located in Wolfe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daysboro
  • Gordon Ford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gordon Ford is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Ford
  • Grassy Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Grassy Creek is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Creek
  • Harper
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Harper is located in Magoffin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
  • Hazel Green
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hazel Green is located in Wolfe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
  • Holliday
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Holliday is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holliday
  • Index
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Index is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Index
  • Jones Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jones Creek is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Creek
  • Lee City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lee City is located in Wolfe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee City
  • Murphyfork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Murphyfork is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphyfork
  • Panama
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Panama is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama
  • Right Fork
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Right Fork is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Right Fork
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Road Fork
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Road Fork is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Road Fork
    • Rose Chapel
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Rose Chapel is located in Wolfe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Chapel
    • Stacy Fork
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stacy Fork is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy Fork
    • Wheel Rim
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Wheel Rim is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheel Rim
    • Wheelrim Fork
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wheelrim Fork is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelrim Fork

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

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

  • West Liberty, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<3> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Payton to Frankfort, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 347 miles [558.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,206 miles [9,987.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,922 miles [11,139.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,798 miles [7,721.6 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 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 Payton 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>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 Payton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Payton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Payton 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 Payton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8023, Longitude: -83.2991       In this case, the coordinates for Payton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.683 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.601 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.752 degrees.