RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Hancock County >> Bray >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bray, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bray 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 Bray:
    • 36.423422, -83.327677
    • 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 Bray
  • 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 Hancock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock County
    • Since Bray is near Grainger County and also Claiborne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grainger County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Claiborne 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 Bray

Communities Also Named Bray ...

We found seven communities that are also named Bray.

There is one other community in Tennessee that is also named Bray.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of six communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Tennessee ...
    • Shelby County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Bray [Shelby County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Siskiyou County
      • This Bray is located in Siskiyou County and lies 2,085 miles [3,355.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Bray that is located in Hancock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Siskiyou County community of Bray.
    • Georgia
      • Lowndes County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Bray [Lowndes County].
    • Kansas
      • Sherman County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Bray [Sherman County].
    • Minnesota
      • Polk County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Bray [Polk County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Stephens County
      • This Bray is located in Stephens County and lies 823 miles [1,324.5 km]<2> to the west of the Bray that is located in Hancock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephens County community of Bray.
    • Ontario
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Bray.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bray ...

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.

  • Bald Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bald Point is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Point
  • Beans
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Beans is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans
    • Estimated population in 2014: 3,084 people
  • Big Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Big Creek is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
  • Duck Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Duck Creek is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Creek
  • Evans Ferry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Evans Ferry is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Ferry
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 293 people
  • Howard Quarter
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Howard Quarter is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Quarter
  • Idol
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Idol is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idol
  • Luther
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Luther is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
  • Meadow Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Meadow Branch is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Branch
  • Rock Haven
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rock Haven is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Haven
  • Spruce Pine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Spruce Pine is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
  • Thorn Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Thorn Hill is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorn Hill
  • Treadway
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Treadway is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treadway
  • Yellow Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Yellow Springs is located in Claiborne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Springs

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

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

  • Sneedville, which is the Seat of Hancock County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bray to Sneedville, with an average speed<4> 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.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 192 miles [309 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 383 miles [616.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,271 miles [10,092.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,982 miles [11,236.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,857 miles [7,816.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Bray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Bray) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Bray 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.
<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 Bray 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 Bray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4234, Longitude: -83.3277       In this case, the coordinates for Bray have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.694 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.414 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.161 degrees.