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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brightwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brightwood 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 Brightwood:
    • 39.803653, -86.109708
    • 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 Brightwood
  • 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Since Brightwood is near Hamilton County and also Bartholomew County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamilton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bartholomew 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 Brightwood

Communities Also Named Brightwood ...

We found nine communities that are also named Brightwood.

Within Indiana, the name Brightwood is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Brightwood is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 508 miles [817.5 km]<1> to the east of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Brightwood.
      • Baltimore County
      • This Brightwood is located in Baltimore County and lies 502 miles [807.9 km] to the east of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Brightwood.
      • Queen Anne's County
      • This Brightwood is located in Queen Anne's County and lies 525 miles [844.9 km] to the east of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Queen Anne's County community of Brightwood.
    • Massachusetts
      • Hampden County
      • This Brightwood is located in Hampden County and lies 720 miles [1,158.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampden County community of Brightwood.
    • North Carolina
      • Guilford County
      • This Brightwood is located in Guilford County and lies 428 miles [688.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guilford County community of Brightwood.
    • Ohio
      • Tuscarawas County
      • This Brightwood is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 252 miles [405.6 km]<1> to the east of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Brightwood.
    • Oregon
      • Clackamas County
      • This Brightwood is located in Clackamas County and lies 1,849 miles [2,975.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clackamas County community of Brightwood.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Brightwood is located in Allegheny County and lies 323 miles [519.8 km]<1> to the east of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Brightwood.
    • Virginia
      • Madison County
      • This Brightwood is located in Madison County and lies 434 miles [698.5 km]<1> to the east of the Brightwood that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Brightwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brightwood ...

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.

  • Crossroad Temple
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Crossroad Temple is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroad Temple
  • Crows Nest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Crows Nest is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crows Nest
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
  • Delaware Trails
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Delaware Trails is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaware Trails
  • Five Points
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Five Points is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Flackville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Flackville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flackville
  • Grandview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Grandview is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Highwoods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Highwoods is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwoods
  • Indianapolis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ivanhoe
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Ivy Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Ivy Hills is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hills
  • Mayflower Meadows
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Mayflower Meadows is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Meadows
  • Meridian Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Meridian Hills is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian Hills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,718 people
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • North Crows Nest
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • North Crows Nest is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Crows Nest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
    • Ravenswood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Ravenswood is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
    • Rocky Ripple
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Rocky Ripple is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ripple
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 653 people
    • Shooters Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Shooters Hill is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shooters Hill
    • Sunnyview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Sunnyview is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
    • University Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • University Heights is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
    • Williams Creek
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Williams Creek is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
    • Willow Lakes
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Lakes is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Lakes

How Far From Brightwood to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Brightwood 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<3> community of Brightwood once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Brightwood and extending to:

  • Indianapolis, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies just to the southwest (SW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 488 miles [785.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Brightwood to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 28 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,224 miles [10,016.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,954 miles [11,191.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,831 miles [7,774.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brightwood) 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>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 Brightwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Brightwood 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 Brightwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8037, Longitude: -86.1097       In this case, the coordinates for Brightwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.446 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.905 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.433 degrees.