RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
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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 Sykes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sykes 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 Sykes:
    • 36.03613, -117.960464
    • 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 Sykes
  • 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 Sykes ...

We found six communities that share the name Sykes.

Within California, the name Sykes is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Decatur 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 Kansas community of Sykes [Decatur County].
    • Mississippi
      • Clarke County
      • This Sykes is located in Clarke County and lies 1,695 miles [2,727.8 km]<2> to the east of the Sykes that is located in Inyo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarke County community of Sykes.
      • Monroe 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 Mississippi community of Sykes [Monroe County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Jefferson 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 Pennsylvania community of Sykes [Jefferson County].
    • Tennessee
      • Smith County
      • This Sykes is located in Smith County and lies 1,776 miles [2,858.2 km]<2> to the east of the Sykes that is located in Inyo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Sykes.
    • Virginia
      • Accomack 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 Virginia community of Sykes [Accomack County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sykes ...

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.

  • Bradys
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradys have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradys
    • Bradys is located in Kern County
  • Brown ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
    • Brown is located in Kern County
  • Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Darwin
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Dunmovin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Grant
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Haiwee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Haiwee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haiwee
    • Haiwee is located in Inyo County
    • Haiwee has also been known as:
    • Enchanted Lake Village
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Haiwee
    • From Sykes to Haiwee
  • Indian Wells
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Wells
    • Indian Wells is located in Kern County
  • Junction Ranch
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Lane Mill ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane Mill
    • Lane Mill is located in Inyo County
  • Little Lake ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Onyx
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

How Far From Sykes to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sykes 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 community of Sykes once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Sykes and extending to:

  • Independence, which is the Seat of Inyo County, lies 54 miles [86.9 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sykes to Independence, with an average speed<7> 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.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 261 miles [420 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,232 miles [3,592.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 127 days.
  • The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,435 miles [11,965.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,204 miles [13,203.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,203 miles [9,982.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<11>

The official website for Inyo County: www.inyocounty.us/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

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 Sykes 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sykes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sykes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0361, Longitude: -117.9605    
<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 Sykes, 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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<7>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.
<8>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 Sykes to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.275 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.316 degrees.
<11>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.481 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025