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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Porterville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Porterville 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 Porterville:
    • 36.073482, -119.039777
    • 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 Porterville
  • 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 Tulare County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tulare County
    • Since Porterville is near Kern County and also Kings County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kern County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kings 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 Porterville

Communities Also Named Porterville ...

We found ten communities that are also named Porterville.

Within California, the name Porterville is unique.

Beyond California, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • DeKalb County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Porterville [DeKalb County].
    • Illinois
      • Crawford County
      • This Porterville is located in Crawford County and lies 1,713 miles [2,756.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Porterville that is located in Tulare County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Porterville.
    • Kansas
      • Bourbon County
      • This Porterville is located in Bourbon County and lies 1,324 miles [2,130.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Porterville that is located in Tulare County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bourbon County community of Porterville.
    • Louisiana
      • Webster Parish
      • This Porterville is located in Webster Parish and lies 1,467 miles [2,360.9 km]<2> to the east of the Porterville that is located in Tulare County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webster Parish community of Porterville.
    • Mississippi
      • Kemper County
      • This Porterville is located in Kemper County and lies 1,750 miles [2,816.4 km]<2> to the east of the Porterville that is located in Tulare County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kemper County community of Porterville.
    • New York
      • Erie County
      • This Porterville is located in Erie County and lies 2,186 miles [3,518 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Porterville that is located in Tulare County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Porterville.
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Porterville lies 3,263 miles [5,251.3 km]<2> to the northeast of the Porterville that is located in Tulare County.
    • Oregon
      • Grant County
      • 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 Oregon community of Porterville [Grant County].
    • Texas
      • Loving County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Loving County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Loving County community of Porterville.
    • Utah
      • Morgan County
      • This Porterville is located in Morgan County and lies 522 miles [840.1 km]<2> to the northeast of the Porterville that is located in Tulare County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Porterville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Porterville ...

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.

  • Cotton Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Cotton Center is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Center
  • Harmony
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Harmony is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Hope ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hope is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • Jones Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jones Corner is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Corner
  • Magnolia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Magnolia is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Plainview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Plainview is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
  • Pleasant Grove ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Poplar
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Stout
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Stout is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
  • Ultra
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Ultra is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ultra
  • Worth
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Worth is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth

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

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

  • Visalia, which is the Seat of Tulare County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Porterville to Visalia, with an average speed<4> 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 219 miles [352.4 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,289 miles [3,683.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 130 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,456 miles [11,999.3 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 8,225 miles [13,236.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,235 miles [10,034.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Porterville 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Porterville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Porterville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Porterville 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 Porterville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0735, Longitude: -119.0398    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.173 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.404 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.117 degrees.