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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hitchcock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hitchcock 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 Hitchcock:
    • 38.638112, -86.169703
    • 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 Hitchcock
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Hitchcock is near Orange County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Hitchcock

Communities Also Named Hitchcock ...

We found eight communities that are also named Hitchcock.

Within Indiana, the name Hitchcock 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 ...
    • Michigan
      • Antrim County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Hitchcock [Antrim County].
    • Ohio
      • Jackson County
      • This Hitchcock is located in Jackson County and lies 194 miles [312.2 km]<2> to the east of the Hitchcock that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Hitchcock.
    • Oklahoma
      • Blaine County
      • This Hitchcock is located in Blaine County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<2> to the west of the Hitchcock that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blaine County community of Hitchcock.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Hitchcock lies 1,111 miles [1,788 km]<2> to the northwest of the Hitchcock that is located in Washington County.
    • South Dakota
      • Beadle County
      • This Hitchcock is located in Beadle County and lies 753 miles [1,211.8 km]<2> to the northwest of the Hitchcock that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beadle County community of Hitchcock.
    • Texas
      • Galveston County
      • This Hitchcock is located in Galveston County and lies 820 miles [1,319.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Hitchcock that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Galveston County community of Hitchcock.
    • Virginia
      • Greensville County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Hitchcock [Greensville County].
      • Prince George County
      • This Hitchcock is located in Prince George County and lies 497 miles [799.8 km]<2> to the east of the Hitchcock that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince George County community of Hitchcock.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hitchcock ...

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.

  • Bono
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bono is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bono
  • Brimstone Corners
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Brimstone Corners is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimstone Corners
  • Claysville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Claysville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
  • Georgetown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Georgetown is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Harristown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Harristown is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harristown
  • Highland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Highland is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • New Philadelphia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • New Philadelphia is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Philadelphia
  • Organ Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Organ Springs is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Organ Springs
  • Pumpkin Center
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Pumpkin Center is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
  • Rosebud
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Rosebud is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosebud
  • Rush Creek Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Rush Creek Valley is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Creek Valley
  • Shorts Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Shorts Corner is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Corner
  • Sparksville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Sparksville is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparksville

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

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

  • Salem, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Hitchcock to Indianapolis, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 491 miles [790.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,008 miles [11,278.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,884 miles [7,860 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Hitchcock 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hitchcock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Hitchcock 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 Hitchcock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6381, Longitude: -86.1697       In this case, the coordinates for Hitchcock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.476 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.773 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.786 degrees.