RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Kern County >> Armistead >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Armistead, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Armistead 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 Armistead:
    • 35.547783, -117.927731
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Armistead
  • 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 Kern County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kern County
    • Since Armistead is near Inyo County and also San Bernardino County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Inyo County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Bernardino 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Armistead

Communities Also Named Armistead ...

We found seven communities that are also named Armistead.

Within California, the name Armistead is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Dickinson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Armistead [Dickinson County].
      • Pratt County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Armistead [Pratt County].
    • Louisiana
      • Bienville Parish
      • This Armistead is located in Bienville Parish and lies 1,421 miles [2,286.9 km]<2> to the east of the Armistead that is located in Kern County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bienville Parish community of Armistead.
      • Red River Parish
      • This Armistead is located in Red River Parish and lies 1,426 miles [2,294.9 km] to the east of the Armistead that is located in Kern County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Red River Parish community of Armistead.
    • Mississippi
      • Coahoma County
      • This Armistead is located in Coahoma County and lies 1,543 miles [2,483.2 km]<2> to the east of the Armistead that is located in Kern County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coahoma County community of Armistead.
      • Rankin County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Armistead [Rankin County].
    • Virginia
      • Norfolk City
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Armistead [Norfolk City].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Armistead ...

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.

  • Bradys
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Bradys is located in Kern County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradys
  • Freeman ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Gypsite
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Gypsite is located in Kern County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gypsite
  • Harts Place
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Harts Place is located in Kern County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harts Place
  • Indian Wells
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Indian Wells is located in Kern County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Wells
  • Little Dixie ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Little Dixie is located in Kern County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Dixie
  • Redrock ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Redrock is located in Kern County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redrock
  • Saltdale ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

How Far From Armistead 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 community such as Armistead to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Bakersfield, which is the Seat of Kern County, lies 63 miles [101.4 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Armistead to Bakersfield, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 286 miles [460.3 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,241 miles [3,606.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 128 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,465 miles [12,013.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,234 miles [13,251.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,230 miles [10,026.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Armistead 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Armistead) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Armistead to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Armistead. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5478, Longitude: -117.9277    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.184 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.175 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.461 degrees.