RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Santa Cruz County >> Watsonville >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
California

The Commemorative Quarter for California





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Watsonville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watsonville 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 Watsonville:
    • 36.911606, -121.758419
    • 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 Watsonville
  • 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 Watsonville ...

We found seven communities that share the name Watsonville.

Within California, the name Watsonville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Wilcox County
      • This Watsonville is located in Wilcox County and lies 1,990 miles [3,202.6 km]<1> to the east of the Watsonville that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilcox County community of Watsonville.
    • Kansas
      • Comanche 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 Kansas community of Watsonville [Comanche County].
    • Michigan
      • Emmet 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 Michigan community of Watsonville [Emmet County].
    • New York
      • Schoharie County
      • This Watsonville is located in Schoharie County and lies 2,511 miles [4,041.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Watsonville that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schoharie County community of Watsonville.
    • North Carolina
      • Rowan 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 North Carolina community of Watsonville [Rowan County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • McKean 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 Pennsylvania community of Watsonville [McKean County].
    • Texas
      • Tarrant County
      • This Watsonville is located in Tarrant County and lies 1,423 miles [2,290.1 km]<1> to the east of the Watsonville that is located in Santa Cruz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Watsonville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Watsonville ...

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.

  • Aromas
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Castroville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Day Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley
    • Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Elkhorn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
  • Freedom
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Leonard ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leonard have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
    • Leonard is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Murphy Crossing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy Crossing
    • Murphy Crossing is located in Monterey County
  • Prunedale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Rob Roy Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rob Roy Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rob Roy Junction
    • Rob Roy Junction is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Seacliff ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seacliff have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seacliff
    • Seacliff is located in Santa Cruz County

How Far From Watsonville 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 city such as Watsonville to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Santa Cruz, which is the Seat of Santa Cruz County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Watsonville to Santa Cruz, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 116 miles [186.7 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,415 miles [3,886.6 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 7,458 miles [12,002.5 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 8,226 miles [13,238.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,269 miles [10,089 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>

The official website for Watsonville: www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/

The official website for Santa Cruz County: www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Watsonville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Watsonville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9116, Longitude: -121.7584    
<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 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 Watsonville 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Watsonville 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 339.551 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.326 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.756 degrees.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024