RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Atchison County >> Port Williams >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Port Williams, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Port Williams 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 Port Williams:
    • 39.456253, -95.033108
    • 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 Port Williams
  • 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 Atchison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Atchison County
    • Since Port Williams is near Platte County and also Leavenworth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Platte County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Leavenworth 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 Port Williams

Communities Also Named Port Williams ...

We found two communities that are also named Port Williams.

Within Kansas, the name Port Williams is unique.

Beyond Kansas, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Port Williams lies 1,601 miles [2,576.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Port Williams that is located in Atchison County.
    • Washington
      • Clallam County
      • This Port Williams is located in Clallam County and lies 1,507 miles [2,425.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Port Williams that is located in Atchison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clallam County community of Port Williams.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Port Williams ...

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.

  • Beverly
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Beverly is located in Platte County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
  • Dye
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Dye is located in Platte County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dye
  • Goodintent ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Goodintent is located in Atchison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
  • Halls
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Halls is located in Buchanan County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls
  • Kickapoo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mock Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mock Corner is located in Buchanan County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mock Corner
  • Potter
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Rushville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Sugar Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Atchison, which is the Seat of Atchison County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Port Williams to Topeka, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 962 miles [1,548.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,569 miles [10,571.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,316 miles [11,774 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,207 miles [8,379.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Port Williams) 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 Port Williams 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 Port Williams. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4563, Longitude: -95.0331       In this case, the coordinates for Port Williams have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.363 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.661 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.818 degrees.