RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Nottoway County >> Irby >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Irby, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Irby 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 Irby:
    • 37.031539, -78.042503
    • 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 Irby
  • 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 Nottoway County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Nottoway County
    • Since Irby is near Brunswick County and also Lunenburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brunswick County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lunenburg 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 Irby

Communities Also Named Irby ...

We found eight communities that are also named Irby.

Within Virginia, the name Irby is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Crittenden 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 Arkansas community of Irby [Crittenden County].
    • Georgia
      • Irwin 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 Georgia community of Irby [Irwin County].
    • South Carolina
      • Laurens County
      • This Irby is located in Laurens County and lies 283 miles [455.4 km]<3> to the southwest of the Irby that is located in Nottoway County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Laurens County community of Irby.
      • Marlboro 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 South Carolina community of Irby [Marlboro County].
      • Spartanburg 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 South Carolina community of Irby [Spartanburg County].
    • Tennessee
      • Putnam 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 Tennessee community of Irby [Putnam County].
    • Texas
      • Haskell County
      • This Irby is located in Haskell County and lies 1,239 miles [1,994 km]<3> to the west of the Irby that is located in Nottoway County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Haskell County community of Irby.
    • Washington
      • Lincoln County
      • This Irby is located in Lincoln County and lies 2,177 miles [3,503.5 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Irby that is located in Nottoway County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Irby.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Irby ...

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.

  • Bishops Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Bishops Corner is located in Lunenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishops Corner
  • Crewe
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Crewe is located in Nottoway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewe
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,116 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crewe <4>
  • Danieltown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Danieltown is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danieltown
  • Forkland ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Forkland is located in Nottoway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forkland
  • Gills Corner
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Gills Corner is located in Lunenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gills Corner
  • Hickory Run
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hickory Run is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Run
  • Martins Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Martins Corner is located in Nottoway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Corner
  • Non Intervention ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Non Intervention is located in Lunenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Non Intervention
  • Octagon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Octagon is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Octagon
  • Oral Oaks
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oral Oaks is located in Lunenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral Oaks
  • Plymouth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Plymouth is located in Lunenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
  • Tobacco
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Tobacco is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobacco
  • Vote
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Vote is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vote
  • Winnie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Winnie is located in Nottoway County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnie

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<3> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Irby to Richmond, with an average speed<5> 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 140 miles [225.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,020 miles [9,688.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,719 miles [10,813.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,599 miles [7,401.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Irby, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Irby 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Irby) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Irby 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 Irby. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0315, Longitude: -78.0425       In this case, the coordinates for Irby have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.571 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.931 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.813 degrees.