Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ayers, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ayers and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ayers
- 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 Ayers:
- 38.978140, -81.098446
- 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 Ayers
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Ayers is near Ritchie County and also Gilmer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ritchie County
- eBird sighting report for Gilmer 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 Ayers ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Ayers.
Within West Virginia, the name Ayers is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Illinois
- Bond County
- This Ayers is located in Bond County and lies 448 miles [721 km]<1> to the west of the Ayers that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bond County community of Ayers.
- Carroll County
- This Ayers is located in Carroll County and lies 518 miles [833.6 km] to the west northwest of the Ayers that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Ayers.
- Champaign 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 Illinois community of Ayers [Champaign County].
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Mississippi
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ayers ...
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.
- Big Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
- Big Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Brohard
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Dutchman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Five Forks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Calhoun County
- Freed
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Grantsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantsville
- Grantsville is located in Calhoun County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grantsville <5>
- Henrietta
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Iris ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Joker
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Pleasant Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Calhoun County
- Purdy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Ayers 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 Ayers to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ayers and extending to:
- Grantsville, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies just to the South.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Ayers to Charleston, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 218 miles [350.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,063 miles [9,757.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,778 miles [10,908.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,654 miles [7,489.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ayers. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.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- Ayers) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ayers. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9781, Longitude: -81.0984 In this case, the coordinates for Ayers 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 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 Ayers 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> | 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 Ayers, 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Ayers 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 310.321 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.218 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.425 degrees. |