RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Jersey >> Middlesex County >> Avon Park >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Avon Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Avon Park 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 Avon Park:
    • 40.593159, -74.399595
    • 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 Avon Park
  • 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 Middlesex County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
    • Since Avon Park is near Union County and also Somerset County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Somerset 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 Avon Park

Communities Also Named Avon Park ...

We found six communities that are also named Avon Park.

Within New Jersey, the name Avon Park is unique.

Beyond New Jersey, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Avon Park is located in Jefferson County and lies 836 miles [1,345.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Avon Park that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Avon Park.
    • Florida
      • Broward County
      • This Avon Park is located in Broward County and lies 1,056 miles [1,699.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Avon Park that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Broward County community of Avon Park.
      • Highlands County
      • This Avon Park is located in Highlands County and lies 984 miles [1,583.6 km] to the south southwest of the Avon Park that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Highlands County community of Avon Park.
    • Georgia
      • Chatham County
      • This Avon Park is located in Chatham County and lies 695 miles [1,118.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Avon Park that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chatham County community of Avon Park.
    • Ohio
      • Trumbull 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 Ohio community of Avon Park [Trumbull County].
    • Texas
      • McLennan 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 Texas community of Avon Park [McLennan County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Avon Park ...

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.

  • Clara Barton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Clara Barton is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara Barton
  • Clark
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Clark is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
  • Coontown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Coontown is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coontown
  • Edgar
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Edgar is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar
  • Edison
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Edison is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
  • Fieldville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fieldville is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldville
  • Fords
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fords is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords
  • Free Acres
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Free Acres is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Free Acres
  • Lincoln Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Martins Landing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Martins Landing is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Landing
  • Netherwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Netherwood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Netherwood
  • Nixon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Nixon is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Oak Tree
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Oak Tree is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Tree
    • Possumtown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Possumtown is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possumtown
    • Potters
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Potters is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters
    • Pumptown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pumptown is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumptown
    • Randolphville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Randolphville is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolphville
    • Sand Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sand Hills is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hills
    • Scotch Plains
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Scotch Plains is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Plains
    • Society Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Society Hill is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Society Hill
    • Stony Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Stony Hill is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Hill
    • Union Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Union Village is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village
    • Valentine
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Valentine is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine

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

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

  • New Brunswick, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Avon Park to Trenton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 182 miles [292.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,715 miles [9,197.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,421 miles [10,333.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,298 miles [6,917 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Avon Park) 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 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 Avon Park 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 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 Avon Park 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 Avon Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5932, Longitude: -74.3996       In this case, the coordinates for Avon Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.189 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.777 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.888 degrees.