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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Martinez, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Martinez 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 Martinez:
    • 38.017744, -122.135739
    • 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 Martinez
  • 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 Martinez ...

We found eight communities that share the name Martinez.

There are two communities within California that are also named Martinez.

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

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Riverside County
      • This Martinez is located in Riverside County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Martinez that is located in Contra Costa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Riverside County community of Martinez.
    • Tuolumne County
      • This Martinez is located in Tuolumne County and lies 95 miles [152.9 km]<1> to the east of the Martinez that is located in Contra Costa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuolumne County community of Martinez.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Yavapai County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Yavapai County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yavapai County community of Martinez.
    • Georgia
      • Columbia County
      • This Martinez is located in Columbia County and lies 2,248 miles [3,617.8 km]<1> to the east of the Martinez that is located in Contra Costa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Martinez.
    • New Mexico
      • Colfax 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 New Mexico community of Martinez [Colfax County].
      • San Juan County
      • Although located in San Juan County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Juan County community of Martinez.
      • Torrance County
      • This Martinez is located in Torrance County and lies 907 miles [1,459.7 km]<1> to the east of the Martinez that is located in Contra Costa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Torrance County community of Martinez.
    • Texas
      • Bexar County
      • This Martinez is located in Bexar County and lies 1,484 miles [2,388.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Martinez that is located in Contra Costa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of Martinez.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Martinez ...

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.

  • Christie
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christie
    • Christie is located in Contra Costa County
  • Clyde
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Clyde is located in Contra Costa County
  • Crockett
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Four Corners
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Four Corners is located in Contra Costa County
  • Glencove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glencove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencove
    • Glencove is located in Solano County
  • Mountain View
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
    • Mountain View is located in Contra Costa County
  • Pierce
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierce have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce
    • Pierce is located in Solano County
  • Pleasant Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rodeo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Sparkle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparkle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparkle
    • Sparkle is located in Contra Costa County
  • Sulphur Springs ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Solano County
  • Vine Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vine Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vine Hill
    • Vine Hill is located in Contra Costa County

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

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

  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Martinez to Sacramento, with an average speed<6> 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 over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,414 miles [3,885 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,394 miles [11,899.5 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 8,160 miles [13,132.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,215 miles [10,002.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>

The official website for Martinez: www.cityofmartinez.org/

The official website for Contra Costa County: www.co.contra-costa.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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Martinez) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Martinez. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0177, Longitude: -122.1357    
<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 Martinez, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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 Martinez 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>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 Martinez 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 339.99 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.91 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.991 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024