|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blakes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blakes 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 Blakes:
- 37.499302, -76.367444
- 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 Blakes
- 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 Mathews County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mathews County
- Since Blakes is near Middlesex County and also Gloucester County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Gloucester 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 Blakes
Communities Also Named Blakes ...
We found six communities that are also named Blakes.
Within Virginia, the name Blakes is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Hillsborough County
- This Blakes is located in Hillsborough County and lies 746 miles [1,200.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Blakes that is located in Mathews County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Blakes.
- Illinois
- La Salle County
- This Blakes is located in La Salle County and lies 713 miles [1,147.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blakes that is located in Mathews County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle County community of Blakes.
- Maine
- Cumberland County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maine community of Blakes [Cumberland County].
- Michigan
- Berrien County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Blakes [Berrien County].
- Pennsylvania
- Luzerne County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Blakes [Luzerne County].
- Tioga County
- This Blakes is located in Tioga County and lies 291 miles [468.3 km]<1> to the north of the Blakes that is located in Mathews County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tioga County community of Blakes.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blakes ...
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.
- Bushy
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bushy is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushy
- Cricket Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Cricket Hill is located in Mathews County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cricket Hill
- Deltaville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dixie
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Dixie is located in Mathews County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
- Hardyville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Hartfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Moon
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Moon is located in Mathews County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon
- Redart
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Redart is located in Mathews County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redart
- Sandy Bottom ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sandy Bottom is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom
- Soles
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Soles is located in Mathews County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soles
- Stampers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Stampers is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stampers
- Stingray Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Stingray Point is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stingray Point
- Wake
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Wake is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wake
How Far From Blakes 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 Blakes to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blakes and extending to:
- Mathews, which is the Seat of Mathews County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Blakes to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over 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 5,928 miles [9,540.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,625 miles [10,661.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,505 miles [7,250.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Blakes) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Blakes 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Blakes 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 Blakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4993, Longitude: -76.3674 In this case, the coordinates for Blakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.584 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.877 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.974 degrees. |
|
|