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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Marsala, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Marsala 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 Marsala:
    • 36.220229, -119.834300
    • 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 Marsala
  • 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 Kings County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kings County
    • Since Marsala is near Fresno County and also Tulare County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fresno County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tulare 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 Marsala

Curious and Interesting Names Near Marsala ...

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.

  • Clint
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Clint is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clint
  • Guernsey
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Guernsey is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey
  • Halls Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Halls Corner is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Corner
  • Helm Corner
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Helm Corner is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helm Corner
  • Home Garden
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Home Garden is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Garden
  • Hub
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Hub is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
  • Murray
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Murray is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
  • Orion ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Orion is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orion
  • Shell
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Shell is located in Kings County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell

How Far From Marsala 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 Marsala 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<1> community of Marsala once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Marsala and extending to:

  • Hanford, which is the Seat of Kings County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Marsala to Hanford, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 186 miles [299.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,328 miles [3,746.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,464 miles [12,012.1 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 8,233 miles [13,249.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,251 miles [10,060 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

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 Marsala, 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 from Point A (ie- Marsala) 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 Marsala 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 Marsala. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2202, Longitude: -119.8343       In this case, the coordinates for Marsala have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.853 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.235 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.59 degrees.