Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Laird, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laird and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Laird
- 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 Laird:
- 37.004039, -77.576932
- 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 Laird
- 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 Dinwiddie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Dinwiddie County
- Since Laird is near Brunswick County and also Sussex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brunswick County
- eBird sighting report for Sussex 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 Laird ...
We found ten communities that share the name Laird.
Within Virginia, the name Laird is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, eight are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Florida
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Ontario
- This Laird lies 729 miles [1,173.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Laird that is located in Dinwiddie County.
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Laird lies 1,766 miles [2,842.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Laird that is located in Dinwiddie County.
- Texas
- Montgomery County
- Although located in Montgomery County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Laird.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Laird ...
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.
- Carson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Champ
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Fields Crossroads
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fields Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields Crossroads
- Fields Crossroads is located in Greensville County
- Five Forks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Dinwiddie County
- Harpers
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Little Mill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Mill
- Little Mill is located in Sussex County
- Reams
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Rivers Edge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rivers Edge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivers Edge
- Rivers Edge is located in Greensville County
- Rocky Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Stony Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stony Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Stony Creek is located in Sussex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stony Creek <4>
- Stony Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stony Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Springs
- Stony Springs is located in Dinwiddie County
- Virginia Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
- Virginia Hills is located in Dinwiddie County
- Walnut Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Greensville County
- Willow Oaks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oaks
- Willow Oaks is located in Greensville County
How Far From Laird 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 Laird to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Laird once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Laird and extending to:
- Dinwiddie, which is the Seat of Dinwiddie County, lies just to the North.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Laird to Richmond, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 134 miles [215.7 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,001 miles [9,657.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,699 miles [10,781 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,579 miles [7,369.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Dinwiddie County: www.dinwiddieva.us/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Laird) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Laird. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0040, Longitude: -77.5769 In this case, the coordinates for Laird 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 Laird 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Laird, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Laird to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.304 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.622 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.637 degrees. |