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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Coontown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Coontown 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 Coontown:
    • 40.618713, -74.518211
    • 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 Coontown
  • 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 Somerset County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Somerset County
    • Since Coontown is near Morris County and also Middlesex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morris County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex 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 Coontown

Communities Also Named Coontown ...

We found one communities that are also named Coontown.

Within New Jersey, the name Coontown is unique.

Beyond New Jersey, there is another community also named Coontown in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • McKean County
      • This Coontown is located in McKean County and lies 230 miles [370.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Coontown that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McKean County community of Coontown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Coontown ...

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.

  • Chimney Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chimney Rock is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Rock
  • Fieldville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fieldville is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldville
  • Free Acres
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Free Acres is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Free Acres
  • Grandview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Grandview is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Green Knoll
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Green Knoll is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Knoll
  • Liberty Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty Corner is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Corner
  • Lyons
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lyons is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
  • Martinsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Martinsville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
  • Mount Horeb
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Mount Horeb is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Netherwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Netherwood is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Netherwood
    • Pleasant Plains
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Pleasant Plains is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
    • Possumtown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Possumtown is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possumtown
    • Round Top
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Round Top is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Top
    • Stony Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stony Hill is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Hill
    • Union Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Union Village is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village

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

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

  • Somerville, which is the Seat of Somerset County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Coontown to Trenton, with an average speed<2> 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 178 miles [286.5 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 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,719 miles [9,203.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,426 miles [10,341.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,302 miles [6,923.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

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- Coontown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Coontown 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 Coontown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6187, Longitude: -74.5182       In this case, the coordinates for Coontown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.257 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.858 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.928 degrees.