Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Podunk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Podunk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Podunk
- 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 Podunk:
- 41.322320, -72.651761
- 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 Podunk
- 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 New Haven County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for New Haven County
- Since Podunk is near Middlesex County and also New London County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
- eBird sighting report for New London 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Podunk ...
We found eight communities that share the name Podunk.
There is one other community in Connecticut which is also named Podunk.
Beyond Connecticut, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Connecticut ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Barry County
- This Podunk is located in Barry County and lies 657 miles [1,057.3 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Podunk that is located in New Haven County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barry County community of Podunk.
- Gladwin County
- This Podunk is located in Gladwin County and lies 632 miles [1,017.1 km] to the west northwest of the Podunk that is located in New Haven County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gladwin County community of Podunk.
- Washtenaw 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 Michigan community of Podunk [Washtenaw County].
- Nevada
- New York
- Vermont
Curious and Interesting Names Near Podunk ...
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.
- Beaver Head Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Head Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Head Corner
- Beaver Head Corner is located in New Haven County
- Flanders ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Lake View
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Lord Corner ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lord Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lord Corner
- Lord Corner is located in Middlesex County
- Middle Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middle Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Beach
- Middle Beach is located in New Haven County
- Nut Plains
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nut Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nut Plains
- Nut Plains is located in New Haven County
- Pine Orchard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
- Pine Orchard is located in New Haven County
- Rockland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Seaview Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seaview Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaview Beach
- Seaview Beach is located in New Haven County
- Spruce Corner ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spruce Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Corner
- Spruce Corner is located in Middlesex County
- Stony Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stony Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Stony Creek is located in New Haven County
How Far From Podunk 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 Podunk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Podunk and extending to:
- Hartford, which is the State Capital of Connecticut, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<3> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Podunk to Hartford, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two 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 285 miles [458.7 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 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,612 miles [9,031.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,317 miles [10,166.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,194 miles [6,749.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Podunk. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Connecticut: https://portal.ct.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Podunk, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Podunk 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Podunk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Podunk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3223, Longitude: -72.6518 In this case, the coordinates for Podunk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Podunk to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.068 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.629 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.791 degrees. |