Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ruth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ruth and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ruth
- 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 Ruth:
- 37.338172, -81.341490
- 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 Ruth
- 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 Mercer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- Since Ruth is near Tazewell County and also McDowell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
- eBird sighting report for McDowell 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 Ruth ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Ruth.
There is one other community in West Virginia which is also named Ruth.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another 25 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In West Virginia ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Breckinridge County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Ruth [Breckinridge County].
- Caldwell County
- This Ruth is located in Caldwell County and lies 352 miles [566.5 km]<1> to the west of the Ruth that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caldwell County community of Ruth.
- Pulaski County
- This Ruth is located in Pulaski County and lies 175 miles [281.6 km] to the west of the Ruth that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Ruth.
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Jasper County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Ruth [Jasper County].
- Stone County
- This Ruth is located in Stone County and lies 665 miles [1,070.2 km]<1> to the west of the Ruth that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stone County community of Ruth.
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Forsyth County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Ruth [Forsyth County].
- Rutherford County
- This Ruth is located in Rutherford County and lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Ruth that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Ruth.
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- Benton County
- This Ruth is located in Benton County and lies 2,036 miles [3,276.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ruth that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Ruth.
- Lewis County
- This Ruth is located in Lewis County and lies 2,209 miles [3,555 km] to the west northwest of the Ruth that is located in Mercer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis County community of Ruth.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ruth ...
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.
- Abbs Valley ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Abbs Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
- Abbs Valley is located in Mercer County
- Big Vein
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Bluestone
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Cherokee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Coaldale
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Coopers
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopers
- Coopers is located in Mercer County
- Falls Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Mills
- Falls Mills is located in Tazewell County (VA)
- Flipping
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Freeman
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Freeman is located in Mercer County
- Goodwill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Pocahontas
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
- Pocahontas is located in Tazewell County (VA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
- Switchback
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Switchback have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Switchback
- Switchback is located in McDowell County
- Yards
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yards
- Yards is located in Tazewell County (VA)
How Far From Ruth to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ruth 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 Ruth once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ruth and extending to:
- Princeton, which is the Seat of Mercer County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Ruth to Princeton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 71 miles [114.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 257 miles [413.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,147 miles [9,892.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,856 miles [11,033.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,732 miles [7,615.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 '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- Ruth) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ruth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3382, Longitude: -81.3415 In this case, the coordinates for Ruth 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 Ruth, 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 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 Ruth 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 Ruth 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 310.502 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.183 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.061 degrees. |