RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Santa Clara County >> Saint Francis >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Saint Francis, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Saint Francis 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 Saint Francis:
    • 37.445278, -122.126389
    • 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 Saint Francis
  • 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 Santa Clara County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Clara County
    • Since Saint Francis is near San Mateo County and also Alameda County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Mateo County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda 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 Saint Francis

Communities Also Named Saint Francis ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Saint Francis.

Within California, the name Saint Francis is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Saint Francis lies 1,155 miles [1,858.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
    • Arkansas
      • Clay County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Clay County and lies 1,757 miles [2,827.6 km]<1> to the east of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Saint Francis.
      • Cross County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Saint Francis [Cross County].
    • Florida
      • Lake County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Lake County and lies 2,401 miles [3,864 km]<1> to the east of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Saint Francis.
    • Kansas
      • Brown County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Brown County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brown County community of Saint Francis.
      • Cheyenne County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Cheyenne County and lies 1,105 miles [1,778.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cheyenne County community of Saint Francis.
      • Marion 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 Kansas community of Saint Francis [Marion County].
    • Kentucky
      • Marion County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Marion County and lies 1,996 miles [3,212.3 km]<1> to the east of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Saint Francis.
    • Maine
      • Aroostook County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Aroostook County and lies 2,744 miles [4,416 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aroostook County community of Saint Francis.
    • Minnesota
      • Anoka County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Anoka County and lies 1,575 miles [2,534.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anoka County community of Saint Francis.
      • Benton 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 Saint Francis [Benton County].
      • Stearns County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Stearns County and lies 1,523 miles [2,451 km] to the east northeast of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stearns County community of Saint Francis.
    • Ohio
      • Hamilton 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 Saint Francis [Hamilton County].
    • South Dakota
      • Todd County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Todd County and lies 1,181 miles [1,900.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Todd County community of Saint Francis.
    • Texas
      • Potter County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Potter County and lies 1,147 miles [1,845.9 km]<1> to the east of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Potter County community of Saint Francis.
    • Wisconsin
      • Milwaukee County
      • This Saint Francis is located in Milwaukee County and lies 1,833 miles [2,949.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint Francis that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Milwaukee County community of Saint Francis.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Saint Francis ...

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.

  • Castro City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Castro City is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castro City
  • Crescent Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Crescent Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Park
  • Evergreen Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Evergreen Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Park
  • Green Acres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Green Acres is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Greenmeadow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenmeadow is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenmeadow
  • Meadow Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Meadow Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Park
  • Neal
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Neal is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neal
  • Park Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Park Forest is located in San Mateo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Forest
  • Professorville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Professorville is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Professorville
  • Ravenswood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Ravenswood is located in San Mateo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
  • Vintage Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Vintage Oaks is located in San Mateo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintage Oaks

How Far From Saint Francis 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 community such as Saint Francis to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • San Jose, which is the Seat of Santa Clara County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Saint Francis to San Jose, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 85 miles [136.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,424 miles [3,901 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,431 miles [11,959 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 8,198 miles [13,193.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,248 miles [10,055.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

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- Saint Francis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Saint Francis, 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 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 Saint Francis 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 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 Saint Francis 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 Saint Francis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4453, Longitude: -122.1264       In this case, the coordinates for Saint Francis have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.921 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.799 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.984 degrees.