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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in San Jose, we use the following websites to find information relevant to San Jose and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 San Jose:
    • 37.333195, -121.896976
    • 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 San Jose
  • 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 San Jose ...

We found eighteen communities that share the name San Jose.

There are three communities within California that are also named San Jose.

Beyond California, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Los Angeles County
      • This San Jose is located in Los Angeles County and lies 322 miles [518.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of San Jose.
    • Marin County
      • This San Jose is located in Marin County and lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marin County community of San Jose.
    • San Diego County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in San Diego County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of San Jose.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Cochise 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 Arizona community of San Jose [Cochise County].
      • Graham County
      • This San Jose is located in Graham County and lies 761 miles [1,224.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Graham County community of San Jose.
    • Florida
      • Duval County
      • This San Jose is located in Duval County and lies 2,344 miles [3,772.3 km]<1> to the east of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Duval County community of San Jose.
    • Illinois
      • Mason County
      • This San Jose is located in Mason County and lies 1,739 miles [2,798.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mason County community of San Jose.
    • New Mexico
      • Bernalillo County
      • This San Jose is located in Bernalillo County and lies 863 miles [1,388.9 km]<1> to the east of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bernalillo County community of San Jose.
      • Eddy County
      • This San Jose is located in Eddy County and lies 1,055 miles [1,697.9 km] to the east southeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eddy County community of San Jose.
      • Rio Arriba County
      • This San Jose is located in Rio Arriba County and lies 878 miles [1,413 km] to the east of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rio Arriba County community of San Jose.
      • San Miguel County
      • This San Jose is located in San Miguel County and lies 921 miles [1,482.2 km] to the east of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Miguel County community of San Jose.
      • Sierra County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Sierra County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sierra County community of San Jose.
      • Socorro County
      • This community is historic and although located in Socorro County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Socorro County community of San Jose.
      • Valencia 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 New Mexico community of San Jose [Valencia County].
    • Texas
      • Bexar County
      • This San Jose is located in Bexar County and lies 1,451 miles [2,335.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of San Jose.
      • Duval County
      • This San Jose is located in Duval County and lies 1,524 miles [2,452.6 km] to the east southeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Duval County community of San Jose.
      • El Paso County
      • This San Jose is located in El Paso County and lies 963 miles [1,549.8 km] to the east southeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the El Paso County community of San Jose.
      • Starr County
      • This San Jose is located in Starr County and lies 1,542 miles [2,481.6 km] to the east southeast of the San Jose that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Starr County community of San Jose.

Curious and Interesting Names Near San Jose ...

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.

  • Alum Rock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alum Rock
    • Alum Rock is located in Santa Clara County
  • Chinatown ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chinatown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
    • Chinatown is located in Santa Clara County
  • College Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for College Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
    • College Park is located in Santa Clara County
  • Fruitdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitdale
    • Fruitdale is located in Santa Clara County
  • Lick
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lick have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick
    • Lick is located in Santa Clara County
  • Meridian
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meridian have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Meridian is located in Santa Clara County
  • Robertsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robertsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsville
    • Robertsville is located in Santa Clara County
  • Seven Trees
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Trees
    • Seven Trees is located in Santa Clara County
  • Willow Glen
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen
    • Willow Glen is located in Santa Clara County

How Far From San Jose to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as San Jose to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from San Jose to Sacramento, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,414 miles [3,885 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,434 miles [11,963.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,201 miles [13,198.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,248 miles [10,055.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>

The official website for San Jose: www.sanjoseca.gov/

The official website for Santa Clara County: www.sccgov.org/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- San Jose) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Jose. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3332, Longitude: -121.8970    
<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 San Jose, 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 San Jose 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 San Jose 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 339.715 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.545 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.843 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024