RoadsideThoughts
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 Halcyon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Halcyon 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 Halcyon:
    • 35.103309, -120.595726
    • 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 Halcyon
  • 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 Halcyon ...

We found five communities that share the name Halcyon.

Within California, the name Halcyon is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Montgomery County
      • This Halcyon is located in Montgomery County and lies 1,975 miles [3,178.5 km]<1> to the east of the Halcyon that is located in San Luis Obispo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Halcyon.
    • Kansas
      • Wichita 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 Halcyon [Wichita County].
    • Louisiana
      • De Soto Parish
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Halcyon [De Soto Parish].
    • Missouri
      • Dent County
      • This Halcyon is located in Dent County and lies 1,627 miles [2,618.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Halcyon that is located in San Luis Obispo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dent County community of Halcyon.
    • West Virginia
      • Logan County
      • This Halcyon is located in Logan County and lies 2,129 miles [3,426.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Halcyon that is located in San Luis Obispo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Halcyon.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Halcyon ...

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.

  • Edna
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edna have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
    • Edna is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Fairoaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairoaks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairoaks
    • Fairoaks is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Grover Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Guadalupe
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Miles
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miles have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
    • Miles is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
    • Oaks is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Reeds ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reeds have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds
    • Reeds is located in San Luis Obispo County
  • Shell Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Sycamore Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Springs
    • Sycamore Springs is located in San Luis Obispo County

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

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

  • San Luis Obispo, which is the Seat of San Luis Obispo County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Halcyon to San Luis Obispo, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 245 miles [394.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,393 miles [3,851.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 136 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,552 miles [12,153.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,320 miles [13,389.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,339 miles [10,201.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Halcyon. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for San Luis Obispo County: www.co.slo.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 'straight-line' (or 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- Halcyon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Halcyon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1033, Longitude: -120.5957       In this case, the coordinates for Halcyon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 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 Halcyon 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>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 Halcyon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>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.
<7>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 Halcyon to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.35 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.775 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.032 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 09 Mar 2024