RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Hampshire >> Rockingham County >> Portsmouth >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Portsmouth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth:
    • 43.071482, -70.762280
    • 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 Portsmouth
  • 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 Rockingham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockingham County
    • Since Portsmouth is near York County and also Strafford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Strafford 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 Portsmouth

Communities Also Named Portsmouth ...

We found nine communities that are also named Portsmouth.

Within New Hampshire, the name Portsmouth is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Shelby County
      • This Portsmouth is located in Shelby County and lies 1,262 miles [2,031 km]<1> to the west of the Portsmouth that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Portsmouth.
    • Kentucky
      • Breathitt County
      • This Portsmouth is located in Breathitt County and lies 762 miles [1,226.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Breathitt County community of Portsmouth.
    • Michigan
      • Bay 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 Portsmouth [Bay County].
    • North Carolina
      • Carteret County
      • This Portsmouth is located in Carteret County and lies 621 miles [999.4 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carteret County community of Portsmouth.
    • Ohio
      • Scioto County
      • This Portsmouth is located in Scioto County and lies 702 miles [1,129.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scioto County community of Portsmouth.
    • Ontario
      • This Portsmouth lies 298 miles [479.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Rockingham County.
    • Rhode Island
      • Newport County
      • This Portsmouth is located in Newport County and lies 104 miles [167.4 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newport County community of Portsmouth.
    • Virginia
      • Norfolk City
      • 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 Virginia community of Portsmouth [Norfolk City].
      • Portsmouth City
      • This Portsmouth is located in Portsmouth City and lies 521 miles [838.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portsmouth City community of Portsmouth.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Portsmouth ...

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.

  • Breakfast Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Breakfast Hill is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakfast Hill
  • Cable Road
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cable Road is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable Road
  • Christian Shore
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Christian Shore is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Shore
  • Green Acre
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Acre is located in York County (ME)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acre
  • Greenland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenland Station
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenland Station is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland Station
  • Maplehaven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Maplehaven is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplehaven
  • Meadowbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Meadowbrook is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
  • Puddle Dock ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Puddle Dock is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puddle Dock
  • Shepherds Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Shepherds Hill is located in York County (ME)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherds Hill

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

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

  • Exeter, which is the Seat of Rockingham County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Portsmouth to Exeter, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Concord, which is the State Capital of New Hampshire, lies 39 miles [62.8 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 435 miles [700.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 25 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,464 miles [8,793.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,173 miles [9,934.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,049 miles [6,516.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Portsmouth) 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 Portsmouth 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0715, Longitude: -70.7623    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.686 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.366 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.065 degrees.