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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mount Bethel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mount Bethel 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 Mount Bethel:
    • 40.637602, -74.514600
    • 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 Mount Bethel
  • 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 Mount Bethel is near Morris County and also Union 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 Union 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 Mount Bethel

Communities Also Named Mount Bethel ...

We found seven communities that are also named Mount Bethel.

There is one other community in New Jersey that is also named Mount Bethel.

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

  • Communities Located In New Jersey ...
    • Warren County
      • This Mount Bethel is located in Warren County and lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Mount Bethel that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Mount Bethel.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Cobb County
      • This Mount Bethel is located in Cobb County and lies 711 miles [1,144.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Mount Bethel that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cobb County community of Mount Bethel.
    • North Carolina
      • Alexander 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 North Carolina community of Mount Bethel [Alexander County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Northampton County
      • This Mount Bethel is located in Northampton County and lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Mount Bethel that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Northampton County community of Mount Bethel.
    • South Carolina
      • Newberry County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Mount Bethel [Newberry County].
    • Texas
      • Hunt County
      • This Mount Bethel is located in Hunt County and lies 1,298 miles [2,088.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Mount Bethel that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunt County community of Mount Bethel.
      • Panola County
      • Although located in Panola County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Panola County community of Mount Bethel.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mount Bethel ...

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

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mount Bethel 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 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Mount Bethel to Trenton, with an average speed<4> 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 179 miles [288.1 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,718 miles [9,202.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,425 miles [10,340 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,301 miles [6,921.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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- Mount Bethel) 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 Mount Bethel 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Mount Bethel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Mount Bethel 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 Mount Bethel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6376, Longitude: -74.5146       In this case, the coordinates for Mount Bethel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.253 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.857 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.918 degrees.