RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Montana >> Petroleum County >> Shay >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shay, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shay 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 Shay:
    • 47.074430, -108.156232
    • 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 Shay
  • 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 Petroleum County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Petroleum County
    • Since Shay is near Garfield County and also Fergus County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Garfield County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fergus 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 Shay

Communities Also Named Shay ...

We found three communities that are also named Shay.

Within Montana, the name Shay is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Washington County
      • This Shay is located in Washington County and lies 1,442 miles [2,320.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Shay that is located in Petroleum County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Shay.
    • Oklahoma
      • Marshall County
      • This Shay is located in Marshall County and lies 1,083 miles [1,742.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Shay that is located in Petroleum County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Shay.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • This Shay is located in Armstrong County and lies 1,483 miles [2,386.7 km]<1> to the east of the Shay that is located in Petroleum County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of Shay.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shay ...

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.

  • Alice ‑ Historic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Alice is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
  • Cat Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Cat Creek is located in Petroleum County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cat Creek
  • Chimney Crossing
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Chimney Crossing is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Crossing
  • Dovetail ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Dovetail is located in Petroleum County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovetail
  • Flatwillow
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Flatwillow is located in Petroleum County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwillow
  • Flatwillow Colony
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Flatwillow Colony is located in Musselshell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwillow Colony
  • Martin ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Martin is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Muscleshell City ‑ Historic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Muscleshell City is located in Petroleum County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscleshell City
  • Valentine
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Valentine is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine
  • Woods Place
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Woods Place is located in Petroleum County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Place

How Far From Shay to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Shay 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<2> community of Shay once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Shay and extending to:

  • Winnett, which is the Seat of Petroleum County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shay to Winnett, 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.
  • Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 185 miles [297.7 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,657 miles [2,666.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 65 days and walking would take 95 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,527 miles [10,504.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,296 miles [11,741.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,292 miles [8,516.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Shay) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Shay, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Shay 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 Shay. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.0744, Longitude: -108.1562       In this case, the coordinates for Shay have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 329.433 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 329.163 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.824 degrees.