RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Connecticut >> Litchfield County >> Bethlehem >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bethlehem, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem:
    • 41.639263, -73.208725
    • 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 Bethlehem
  • 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 Litchfield County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Litchfield County
    • Since Bethlehem is near Hartford County and also New Haven County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hartford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for New Haven 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 Bethlehem

Communities Also Named Bethlehem ...

We found one communities that are also named Bethlehem.

Within Connecticut, the name Bethlehem is unique.

Beyond Connecticut, there is another community also named Bethlehem in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Albany County
      • This Bethlehem is located in Albany County and lies 72 miles [115.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Bethlehem that is located in Litchfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albany County community of Bethlehem.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bethlehem ...

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.

  • Acropolis ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Acropolis is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acropolis
  • Campville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Campville is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campville
  • Grappaville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Grappaville is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grappaville
  • Greystone
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Greystone is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
  • Gulls Hollow
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Gulls Hollow is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulls Hollow
  • Hickory Haven
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Hickory Haven is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Haven
  • Hillcrest
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillcrest is located in New Haven County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Horse Heaven
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Horse Heaven is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Heaven
  • Marble Dale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Minortown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Minortown is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minortown
  • Overlook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Overlook is located in New Haven County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overlook
  • Plymouth
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Sandy Beach
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Sandy Beach is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach

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

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

  • Hartford, which is the State Capital of Connecticut, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Bethlehem to Hartford, with an average speed<3> 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 just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 276 miles [444.2 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,623 miles [9,049.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,207 miles [6,770.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bethlehem) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6393, Longitude: -73.2087       In this case, the coordinates for Bethlehem have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.361 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.012 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.887 degrees.