RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Santa Clara County >> Chinatown >> 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 Chinatown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chinatown 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 Chinatown:
    • 37.333830, -121.890233
    • 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 Chinatown
  • 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 Chinatown ...

We found eleven communities that share the name Chinatown.

There are four communities within California that are also named Chinatown.

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

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Alameda County
      • This Chinatown is located in Alameda County and lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alameda County community of Chinatown.
    • Amador County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Chinatown [Amador County].
    • Mono County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Chinatown [Mono County].
    • San Francisco County
      • This Chinatown is located in San Francisco County and lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Francisco County community of Chinatown.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Hawaii
      • This Chinatown lies 2,411 miles [3,880.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Chinatown is located in Cook County and lies 1,836 miles [2,954.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Chinatown.
      • Madison County
      • This Chinatown is located in Madison County and lies 1,731 miles [2,785.8 km] to the east northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Chinatown.
    • Massachusetts
      • Suffolk County
      • Although located in Suffolk County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk County community of Chinatown.
    • Montana
      • Beaverhead County
      • This Chinatown is located in Beaverhead County and lies 689 miles [1,108.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaverhead County community of Chinatown.
    • Nevada
      • Humboldt County
      • This Chinatown is located in Humboldt County and lies 323 miles [519.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humboldt County community of Chinatown.
    • New York
      • New York County
      • This Chinatown is located in New York County and lies 2,547 miles [4,099 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New York County community of Chinatown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Chinatown ...

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
  • College Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for College Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<3> 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.<3> 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.<3> 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.<3> 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 Chinatown to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Chinatown once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Chinatown and extending to:

  • San Jose, which is the Seat of Santa Clara County, lies just to the West.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Chinatown to Sacramento, with an average speed<4>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<5> 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).<6>
  • 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).<7>
  • 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).<8>

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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Chinatown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chinatown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3338, Longitude: -121.8902       In this case, the coordinates for Chinatown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Chinatown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Chinatown to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.709 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.538 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.839 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