RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> San Joaquin County >> Tracy >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tracy, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tracy 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 Tracy:
    • 37.739774, -121.436409
    • 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 Tracy
  • 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 San Joaquin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Joaquin County
    • Since Tracy is near Alameda County and also Stanislaus County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stanislaus 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 Tracy

Communities Also Named Tracy ...

We found 23 communities that are also named Tracy.

Within California, the name Tracy is unique.

Beyond California, we know of 23 communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these 23 communities, 22 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • New Haven County
      • This Tracy is located in New Haven County and lies 2,565 miles [4,128 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Haven County community of Tracy.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Tracy [Cook County].
      • Kankakee County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Tracy [Kankakee County].
    • Indiana
      • LaPorte County
      • This Tracy is located in LaPorte County and lies 1,854 miles [2,983.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the LaPorte County community of Tracy.
    • Iowa
      • Marion County
      • This Tracy is located in Marion County and lies 1,533 miles [2,467.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Tracy.
    • Kentucky
      • Barren County
      • This Tracy is located in Barren County and lies 1,938 miles [3,118.9 km]<1> to the east of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barren County community of Tracy.
    • Minnesota
      • Lyon County
      • This Tracy is located in Lyon County and lies 1,411 miles [2,270.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyon County community of Tracy.
    • Missouri
      • Platte County
      • This Tracy is located in Platte County and lies 1,437 miles [2,312.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Platte County community of Tracy.
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Tracy is located in Saint Clair County and lies 1,508 miles [2,426.9 km] to the east of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Tracy.
    • Montana
      • Cascade County
      • This Tracy is located in Cascade County and lies 846 miles [1,361.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cascade County community of Tracy.
    • Nebraska
      • Greeley County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Greeley County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greeley County community of Tracy.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Tracy lies 2,818 miles [4,535.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
    • New Jersey
      • Middlesex County
      • This Tracy is located in Middlesex County and lies 2,500 miles [4,023.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Tracy.
    • North Carolina
      • Watauga County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Tracy [Watauga County].
    • Ohio
      • Tuscarawas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Tracy [Tuscarawas County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Seminole County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Tracy [Seminole County].
      • Texas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Tracy [Texas County].
    • Oregon
      • Clackamas County
      • This Tracy is located in Clackamas County and lies 524 miles [843.3 km]<1> to the north of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clackamas County community of Tracy.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Erie County
      • This Tracy is located in Erie County and lies 2,170 miles [3,492.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Tracy.
    • Texas
      • Milam County
      • This Tracy is located in Milam County and lies 1,465 miles [2,357.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Milam County community of Tracy.
    • Washington
      • Walla Walla County
      • This Tracy is located in Walla Walla County and lies 599 miles [964 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walla Walla County community of Tracy.
    • West Virginia
      • Barbour County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Tracy [Barbour County].
    • Wyoming
      • Laramie County
      • This Tracy is located in Laramie County and lies 949 miles [1,527.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tracy that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Laramie County community of Tracy.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tracy ...

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.

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

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

  • Stockton, which is the Seat of San Joaquin County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Tracy to Stockton, with an average speed<5> 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 five to six hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 58 miles [93.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,382 miles [3,833.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 136 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,399 miles [11,907.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,166 miles [13,141.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,211 miles [9,995.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Tracy) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Tracy 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.
<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 Tracy, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Tracy 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 Tracy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7398, Longitude: -121.4364    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.371 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.152 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.562 degrees.