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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sun, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sun 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 Sun:
    • 36.941772, -82.285697
    • 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 Sun
  • 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 Russell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell County
    • Since Sun is near Wise County and also Dickenson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dickenson 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 Sun

Communities Also Named Sun ...

We found ten communities that are also named Sun.

Within Virginia, the name Sun is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Pima 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 Arizona community of Sun [Pima County].
    • Louisiana
      • Saint Tammany Parish
      • This Sun is located in Saint Tammany Parish and lies 615 miles [989.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Sun that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Tammany Parish community of Sun.
    • Michigan
      • Newaygo County
      • This Sun is located in Newaygo County and lies 476 miles [766 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Sun that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newaygo County community of Sun.
    • Mississippi
      • Scott County
      • This Sun is located in Scott County and lies 517 miles [832 km]<2> to the southwest of the Sun that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Sun.
    • New York
      • Franklin County
      • This Sun is located in Franklin County and lies 695 miles [1,118.5 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Sun that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Sun.
    • North Carolina
      • Wilson County
      • This Sun is located in Wilson County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Sun that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Sun.
    • Texas
      • Grayson 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 Sun [Grayson County].
      • Jefferson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Sun [Jefferson County].
    • Utah
      • Davis County
      • This Sun is located in Davis County and lies 1,615 miles [2,599.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Sun that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of Sun.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Sun is located in Fayette County and lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Sun that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Sun.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sun ...

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.

  • Boody
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Boody is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boody
  • Counts
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Counts is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Counts
  • Gravel Lick
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Gravel Lick is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Lick
  • Hazel
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hazel is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
  • John
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • John is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John
  • Lonesome ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lonesome is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonesome
  • Rural
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Rural is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural
  • Temple Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Temple Hill is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hill
  • Virginia City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Virginia City is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City

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

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

  • Lebanon, which is the Seat of Russell County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sun to Lebanon, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 269 miles [432.9 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 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 316 miles [508.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,204 miles [9,984.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,914 miles [11,127 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,790 miles [7,708.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Sun 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Sun) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Sun 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 Sun. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9418, Longitude: -82.2857       In this case, the coordinates for Sun have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.071 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.775 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.577 degrees.