Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ray, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ray and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ray
- 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 Ray:
- 36.936251, -79.310856
- 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 Ray
- 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 Pittsylvania County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pittsylvania County
- Since Ray is near Halifax County and also Campbell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Halifax County
- eBird sighting report for Campbell 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 Ray ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Ray.
Within Virginia, the name Ray is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another 26 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Baldwin County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Ray [Baldwin County].
- Coosa County
- This Ray is located in Coosa County and lies 472 miles [759.6 km]<2> to the southwest of the Ray that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coosa County community of Ray.
- Arizona
- Florida
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Carroll County
- This Ray is located in Carroll County and lies 458 miles [737.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Ray that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Ray.
- Steuben County
- This Ray is located in Steuben County and lies 446 miles [717.8 km] to the northwest of the Ray that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Steuben County community of Ray.
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Pawnee County
- This Ray is located in Pawnee County and lies 1,077 miles [1,733.3 km]<2> to the west of the Ray that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pawnee County community of Ray.
- Sumner County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Ray [Sumner County].
- Kentucky
- Lawrence County
- This Ray is located in Lawrence County and lies 196 miles [315.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Ray that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Ray.
- Logan County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Ray [Logan County].
- Michigan
- Branch County
- This Ray is located in Branch County and lies 446 miles [717.8 km]<2> to the northwest of the Ray that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Branch County community of Ray.
- Newaygo County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Ray [Newaygo County].
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- Nye County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Nye County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Ray.
- White Pine County
- This community is historic and although located in White Pine County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the White Pine County community of Ray.
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Ellis County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Ray [Ellis County].
- Grayson County
- This Ray is located in Grayson County and lies 993 miles [1,598.1 km]<2> to the west of the Ray that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grayson County community of Ray.
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ray ...
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.
- Cedar Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Cedar Hill is located in Pittsylvania County
- Chalk Level
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk Level
- Chalk Level is located in Pittsylvania County
- Farmers
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Glenland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Greenfield
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Greenfield is located in Pittsylvania County
- Motleys Mill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Motleys Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motleys Mill
- Motleys Mill is located in Pittsylvania County
- Natal
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Pickerel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Smothers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Whittles
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittles
- Whittles is located in Pittsylvania County
- Whittles has also been known as:
- Whittle's Depot
- Whittle's Station
How Far From Ray to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ray to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ray and extending to:
- Chatham, which is the Seat of Pittsylvania County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ray to Chatham, with an average speed<5> 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 111 miles [178.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 183 miles [294.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,079 miles [9,783.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,781 miles [10,913 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,659 miles [7,497.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ray. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pittsylvania County: www.pittgov.org/
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 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 Ray 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9363, Longitude: -79.3109 In this case, the coordinates for Ray have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Ray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Ray to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.311 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.761 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.356 degrees. |