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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Elliot:
    • 37.672708, -121.838844
    • 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 Elliot
  • 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 Alameda County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda County
    • Since Elliot is near Contra Costa County and also Santa Clara County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Contra Costa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Clara 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 Elliot

Communities Also Named Elliot ...

We found seven communities that are also named Elliot.

There is one other community in California that is also named Elliot.

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

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • San Joaquin County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in San Joaquin County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Joaquin County community of Elliot.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Frederick County
      • This Elliot is located in Frederick County and lies 2,384 miles [3,836.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Elliot that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Elliot.
    • Minnesota
      • Wilkin 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 Minnesota community of Elliot [Wilkin County].
    • Ohio
      • Morgan 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 Ohio community of Elliot [Morgan County].
    • South Carolina
      • Sumter 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 South Carolina community of Elliot [Sumter County].
    • Texas
      • Robertson County
      • This Elliot is located in Robertson County and lies 1,508 miles [2,426.9 km]<2> to the east of the Elliot that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Robertson County community of Elliot.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Elliot [Fayette County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elliot ...

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.

  • Blackhawk
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Blackhawk is located in Contra Costa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
  • Carpenter
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Carpenter is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
  • Dublin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Farwell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Farwell is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
  • Greenville ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenville is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
  • Laddville ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Laddville is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laddville
  • Livermore
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Mallard ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mallard is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard
  • Snoboy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Snoboy is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snoboy
  • Union City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Union City is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,501 people
    • Former name for Union City:
    • Decoto
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <4>

How Far From Elliot 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 community such as Elliot 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 Elliot once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Elliot and extending to:

  • Oakland, which is the Seat of Alameda County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elliot to Oakland, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 65 miles [104.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,405 miles [3,870.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,411 miles [11,926.8 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 8,178 miles [13,161.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,227 miles [10,021.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Elliot, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elliot) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Elliot 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Elliot 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 Elliot. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6727, Longitude: -121.8388       In this case, the coordinates for Elliot have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.703 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.548 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.808 degrees.