RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Skillman, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Skillman 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 Skillman:
    • 40.420170, -74.713897
    • 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 Skillman
  • 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 Skillman is near Mercer County and also Hunterdon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hunterdon 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 Skillman

Communities Also Named Skillman ...

We found two communities that are also named Skillman.

Within New Jersey, the name Skillman is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Hancock County
      • This Skillman is located in Hancock County and lies 663 miles [1,067 km]<1> to the west of the Skillman that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Skillman.
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis 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 Missouri community of Skillman [Saint Louis County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Skillman ...

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.

  • Cedar Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Centerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Centerville is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Cloverhill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cloverhill is located in Hunterdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverhill
  • Dutchtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dutchtown is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
  • Flagtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Flagtown is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagtown
  • Little Rocky Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Little Rocky Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rocky Hill
  • Marshalls Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Marshalls Corner is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshalls Corner
  • Mount Rose
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Plainville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Plainville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
  • Pleasantview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasantview is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantview
  • Rock Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Rock Mill is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Mill
  • Rosedale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Rosedale is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Stoutsburg
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Stoutsburg is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoutsburg
    • Sunset Hill Garden
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Sunset Hill Garden is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hill Garden
    • Unionville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Unionville is located in Hunterdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Woods Tavern
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Woods Tavern is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Tavern
    • Zion
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Zion is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion

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

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

  • Somerville, which is the Seat of Somerset County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Skillman to Somerville, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 13 miles [20.9 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take 6 hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 162 miles [260.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,736 miles [9,231.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,442 miles [10,367.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,318 miles [6,949.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Skillman) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Skillman 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 Skillman 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 Skillman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4202, Longitude: -74.7139    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.393 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.98 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.10 degrees.