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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rockingham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rockingham 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 Rockingham:
    • 40.397884, -74.619046
    • 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 Rockingham
  • 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 Rockingham is near Somerset County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Somerset County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Rockingham

Communities Also Named Rockingham ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Rockingham.

Within New Jersey, the name Rockingham is unique.

Beyond New Jersey, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, ten are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Bacon County
      • This Rockingham is located in Bacon County and lies 749 miles [1,205.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Rockingham that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bacon County community of Rockingham.
    • Iowa
      • Scott County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Rockingham [Scott County].
    • Kansas
      • Pottawatomie County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Rockingham [Pottawatomie County].
    • Missouri
      • Ray County
      • This Rockingham is located in Ray County and lies 1,016 miles [1,635.1 km]<1> to the west of the Rockingham that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ray County community of Rockingham.
    • New Hampshire
      • Rockingham County
      • This Rockingham is located in Rockingham County and lies 263 miles [423.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rockingham that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Rockingham.
    • North Carolina
      • Richmond County
      • This Rockingham is located in Richmond County and lies 469 miles [754.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Rockingham that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richmond County community of Rockingham.
    • Nova Scotia
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nova Scotia community of Rockingham.
    • Ohio
      • Tuscarawas County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Tuscarawas County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Rockingham.
    • Ontario
      • This Rockingham lies 374 miles [601.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Rockingham that is located in Middlesex County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Somerset County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Rockingham [Somerset County].
    • Vermont
      • Windham County
      • This Rockingham is located in Windham County and lies 221 miles [355.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Rockingham that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Windham County community of Rockingham.
    • Virginia
      • Rockingham County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Rockingham [Rockingham County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rockingham ...

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.

  • Black Horse
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Black Horse is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Horse
  • Cedar Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Dutchtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dutchtown is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
  • Grovers Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Grovers Mill is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grovers Mill
  • Little Rocky Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Little Rocky Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rocky Hill
  • Mount Rose
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Mount Rose is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Rose
  • Plainville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Plainville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
  • Pleasant Plains
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Plains is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
  • Pleasantview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Pleasantview is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantview
  • Rosedale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosedale is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Sixmile Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sixmile Run is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile Run
  • Skillman
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Skillman is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skillman
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Stoutsburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Stoutsburg is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoutsburg
    • Sunset Hill Garden
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunset Hill Garden is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hill Garden
    • Ten Mile Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Ten Mile Run is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Mile Run
    • Zion
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Zion is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion

How Far From Rockingham to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Rockingham to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • New Brunswick, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rockingham to New Brunswick, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 14 miles [22.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 165 miles [265.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,732 miles [9,224.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,438 miles [10,361 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,315 miles [6,944.3 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rockingham) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Rockingham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Rockingham 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.
<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 Rockingham 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 Rockingham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3979, Longitude: -74.6190       In this case, the coordinates for Rockingham have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.339 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.916 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.069 degrees.