Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Riggs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riggs and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Riggs
- 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 Riggs:
- 36.761765, -82.649047
- 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 Riggs
- 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 Scott County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- Since Riggs is near Wise County and also Lee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wise County
- eBird sighting report for Lee 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 Riggs ...
We found ten communities that share the name Riggs.
Within Virginia, the name Riggs is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Bradford County
- This Riggs is located in Bradford County and lies 477 miles [767.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Riggs that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bradford County community of Riggs.
- Greene County
- This Riggs is located in Greene County and lies 244 miles [392.7 km] to the north northeast of the Riggs that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Riggs.
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Riggs ...
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.
- Boulder
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Cracker Neck
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cracker Neck have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cracker Neck
- Cracker Neck is located in Wise County
- Craft Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Craft Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craft Mill
- Craft Mill is located in Scott County
- East Stone Gap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Stone Gap
- East Stone Gap is located in Wise County
- Grays
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Grays Ford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grays Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Ford
- Grays Ford is located in Scott County
- Irondale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Jennings Ford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jennings Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings Ford
- Jennings Ford is located in Scott County
- Manville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Natural Tunnel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natural Tunnel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natural Tunnel
- Natural Tunnel is located in Scott County
- Stanleytown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanleytown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanleytown
- Stanleytown is located in Scott County
- Sunbright
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Three Forks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
- Three Forks is located in Scott County
- Williams Mill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williams Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Mill
- Williams Mill is located in Scott County
How Far From Riggs 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 Riggs 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 community of Riggs once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Riggs and extending to:
- Gate City, which is the Seat of Scott County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Riggs to Gate City, 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 291 miles [468.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 339 miles [545.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,227 miles [10,021.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,937 miles [11,164 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,813 miles [7,745.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Scott County: www.scottcountyva.com/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Riggs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riggs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7618, Longitude: -82.6490 In this case, the coordinates for Riggs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Riggs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Riggs 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. |
| <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 Riggs 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 311.288 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.998 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.782 degrees. |