RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brays, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brays 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 Brays:
    • 38.120316, -92.244618
    • 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 Brays
  • 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 Brays ...

We found two communities that share the name Brays.

Within Missouri, the name Brays is unique.

Beyond Missouri, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Tennessee
      • Hancock 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 Tennessee community of Brays [Hancock County].
    • Virginia
      • Essex County
      • This Brays is located in Essex County and lies 835 miles [1,343.8 km]<2> to the east of the Brays that is located in Miller County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Essex County community of Brays.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brays ...

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.

  • Faith
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Faith have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faith
    • Faith is located in Miller County
  • Hawkeye
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hawkeye. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
    • Hawkeye is located in Pulaski County
  • Helm
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Helm have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helm
    • Helm is located in Pulaski County
  • Iberia
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iberia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iberia
    • Iberia is located in Miller County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 753 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iberia <5>
  • Samtown
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Samtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samtown
    • Samtown is located in Miller County
  • Shantytown
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shantytown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shantytown
    • Shantytown is located in Maries County
  • Tavern
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tavern have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tavern
    • Tavern is located in Maries County
  • Traderight
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Traderight have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traderight
    • Traderight is located in Miller County

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

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

  • Tuscumbia, which is the Seat of Miller County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Brays to Tuscumbia, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 822 miles [1,322.9 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 33 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,538 miles [10,521.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,276 miles [11,709.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,158 miles [8,301 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Brays. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Missouri: https://www.mo.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 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 Brays 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brays) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Brays. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1203, Longitude: -92.2446       In this case, the coordinates for Brays have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Brays 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 317.40 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.217 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.725 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025