Ararat

(Virginia)

Ararat is an unincorporated community in Patrick County, Virginia, United States, south of the Blue Ridge Parkway and north of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Ararat is located near the Virginia–North Carolina state line about five miles (8.0 km) north of Mount Airy and about 25 miles (40 km) west of Stuart, Virginia. The community's name comes from the Ararat River which flows through the area. The River takes its name from the Jefferson Fry Map of 1751, which calls Pilot Mountain part of the "Mountains of Ararat." The Saura Indian name for nearby Pilot Mountain across the state line in Surry County, North Carolina is "The Pilot" and the mountain reverted to that. The large monadnock mountain was thought to resemble a bullfrog and the Native Americans named it "Ratratrat," after the sound the animal makes. Early white settlers thought what they were saying sounded like "Ararat," the mountain which, according to the Bible, was the landing point of Noah's Ark.