RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Vigo County >> Atherton >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Atherton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Atherton 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 Atherton:
    • 39.608093, -87.361963
    • 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 Atherton
  • 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 Vigo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vigo County
    • Since Atherton is near Parke County and also Vermillion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Parke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vermillion 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 Atherton

Communities Also Named Atherton ...

We found eight communities that are also named Atherton.

Within Indiana, the name Atherton is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Mateo County
      • This Atherton is located in San Mateo County and lies 1,875 miles [3,017.5 km]<1> to the west of the Atherton that is located in Vigo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Mateo County community of Atherton.
    • Louisiana
      • East Carroll Parish
      • This Atherton is located in East Carroll Parish and lies 522 miles [840.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Atherton that is located in Vigo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the East Carroll Parish community of Atherton.
    • Massachusetts
      • Middlesex 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 Massachusetts community of Atherton [Middlesex County].
    • Michigan
      • Huron 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 Atherton [Huron County].
    • Missouri
      • Jackson County
      • This Atherton is located in Jackson County and lies 371 miles [597.1 km]<1> to the west of the Atherton that is located in Vigo County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Atherton.
      • Saint Louis 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 Missouri community of Atherton [Saint Louis County].
    • Ohio
      • Licking 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 Ohio community of Atherton [Licking County].
    • Ontario
      • This Atherton lies 422 miles [679.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Atherton that is located in Vigo County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Atherton ...

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.

  • Coal Bluff
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Coal Bluff is located in Vigo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Bluff
  • Dewey
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Dewey is located in Vigo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
  • Easytown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Easytown is located in Vermillion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easytown
  • Jessup
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jessup is located in Parke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jessup
  • Needmore
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Needmore is located in Vermillion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
  • Otter Creek Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Pine Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pine Ridge is located in Vigo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
  • Rosedale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Rosedale is located in Parke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 704 people
    • Rosedale has also been known as:
    • Roseville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rosedale <4>
  • Sandcut
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sandcut is located in Vigo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandcut
  • Sandytown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sandytown is located in Vermillion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandytown
  • Syndicate
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Syndicate is located in Vermillion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syndicate
  • Universal
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Universal is located in Vermillion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Universal
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 339 people

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

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

  • Terre Haute, which is the Seat of Vigo County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Atherton to Terre Haute, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 64 miles [103 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 553 miles [890 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,282 miles [10,109.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,013 miles [11,286.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,892 miles [7,872.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Atherton) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Atherton 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 Atherton, 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 Atherton 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 Atherton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6081, Longitude: -87.3620       In this case, the coordinates for Atherton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.251 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.799 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.073 degrees.