Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ira, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ira and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ira
- 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 Ira:
- 37.429276, -82.090130
- 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 Ira
- 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 Buchanan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- Since Ira is near Pike County and also Mingo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pike County
- eBird sighting report for Mingo 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 Ira ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Ira.
Within Virginia, the name Ira is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Red River 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 Texas community of Ira [Red River County].
- Scurry County
- This Ira is located in Scurry County and lies 1,118 miles [1,799.2 km]<1> to the west of the Ira that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scurry County community of Ira.
- Vermont
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ira ...
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.
- Arrow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Big Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
- Big Rock is located in Buchanan County
- Board Tree
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Board Tree have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Board Tree
- Board Tree is located in Pike County (KY)
- Cedar
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Fedscreek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Home Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Home Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Creek
- Home Creek is located in Buchanan County
- Hurricane
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Jamboree
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Majestic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Motley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Paw Paw
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Stopover
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Vulcan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Woodman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
How Far From Ira 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 Ira to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ira and extending to:
- Grundy, which is the Seat of Buchanan County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Ira to Grundy, 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.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 255 miles [410.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 292 miles [469.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,174 miles [9,936.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,885 miles [11,080.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,761 miles [7,662.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ira. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Ira) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ira. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4293, Longitude: -82.0901 In this case, the coordinates for Ira have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Ira 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> | 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 Ira 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 310.951 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.709 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.348 degrees. |