Paytes is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Spotsylvania County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The community is marked at the intersection of Lawyer's Road (Route 601) and Catharpin Road (Route 608) by an

electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station an ...

owned by Rappahannock Electric Co-op. A telecommunications tower was approved to be built on the site to expand cell coverage in the area on February 28, 2001. The community stretches east from this intersection along Catharpin Road until it splits at a fork into two separate roads: West Catharpin Road, which continues to carry the Route 608 designation, heading east towards Spotsylvania Courthouse, and Post Oak Road (Route 606), heading east towards Post Oak (intersection with State Route 208 at Spotsylvania High School/Post Oak Middle School). Craig's Baptist Church/Community Center is located near the intersection of Catharpin Road with Craig's Church Lane (Route 684), which lies between the 601/608 intersection to the west and the Y-split of 608/606 to the east. The latter point is where a store/gas station stands: Keystone Grocery (14008 West Catharpin Rd). This store was long known as Baker's Store when it was managed by Najeh Abed, until the management and name was changed in 1999.

Nearby communities and landmarks

* Granite Springs, Virginia, further north, at the intersection of Belmont Road (Route 652), Lawyers Road (Route 601), and Granite Springs Road (Route 664). This community extends north along Lawyers Road and Granite Springs Road (Route 680), until they reconverge. Plentiful Creek, which forms its southern and eastern boundary, flows through the Belmont area on its way to

Lake Anna Lake Anna is one of the largest freshwater inland reservoirs in Virginia, covering an area of , and located south of Washington, D.C., in Louisa and Spotsylvania counties (and partially in Orange County at the northern tip). The lake is easil ...

. * Belmont, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, further south along Route 652. *Bells Crossroad, at the intersection of Lawyers Road and Stubbs Bridge Road (Route 612) * Orange Springs, a historic home, farm complex, and former resort spa in nearby

Orange County, Virginia Orange County is a county (United States), county located in the central Piedmont region of Virginia, Piedmont region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was ...

, is accessible via Orange Springs Road (Route 653), after heading south on Belmont Road (Route 652) from Granite Springs. Heading west on Route 653 from Belmont, it becomes Route 629 at Danton (intersection with Route 651) and the farm entrance is located on Route 629 before it intersects with US 522. Orange Springs was visited by President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

and is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> * Lake Anna State Park, located off of Lawyers Road.

References

* Unincorporated communities in Virginia Unincorporated communities in Spotsylvania County, Virginia {{SpotsylvaniaCountyVA-geo-stub