Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ark, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ark and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ark
- 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 Ark:
- 37.437938, -76.577267
- 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 Ark
- 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 Gloucester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Gloucester County
- Since Ark is near King and Queen County and also James City County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for King and Queen County
- eBird sighting report for James City 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 Ark ...
We found six communities that share the name Ark.
Within Virginia, the name Ark is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- Utah
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ark ...
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.
- Allmondsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allmondsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allmondsville
- Allmondsville is located in Gloucester County
- Clay Bank
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Gum Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Hermitage
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Hermitage Banks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermitage Banks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage Banks
- Hermitage Banks is located in Gloucester County
- Hornets Nest
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hornets Nest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornets Nest
- Hornets Nest is located in Gloucester County
- Money
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Owl Trap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Plain View
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plain View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plain View
- Plain View is located in King and Queen County
- Rosewell Harbor
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosewell Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewell Harbor
- Rosewell Harbor is located in Gloucester County
- Sassafras
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Signpine
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Valley Front ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Front have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Front
- Valley Front is located in Gloucester County
- Woods Crossroads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woods Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Crossroads
- Woods Crossroads is located in Gloucester County
How Far From Ark 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 Ark to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ark and extending to:
- Gloucester, which is the Seat of Gloucester County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Ark to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 103 miles [165.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,939 miles [9,557.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,637 miles [10,681.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,517 miles [7,269.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ark. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Gloucester County: www.co.gloucester.va.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.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 Ark 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 '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- Ark) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ark. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4379, Longitude: -76.5773 |
| <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> | 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 Ark to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.708 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.009 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.08 degrees. |