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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Thompsontown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thompsontown 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 Thompsontown:
    • 39.416505, -74.708773
    • 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 Thompsontown
  • 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 Atlantic County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Atlantic County
    • Since Thompsontown is near Monmouth County and also Cape May County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monmouth County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cape May 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 Thompsontown

Communities Also Named Thompsontown ...

We found three communities that are also named Thompsontown.

Within New Jersey, the name Thompsontown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Dorchester County
      • This Thompsontown is located in Dorchester County and lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Thompsontown that is located in Atlantic County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dorchester County community of Thompsontown.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clearfield County
      • This Thompsontown is located in Clearfield County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Thompsontown that is located in Atlantic County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clearfield County community of Thompsontown.
      • Juniata County
      • This Thompsontown is located in Juniata County and lies 155 miles [249.4 km] to the west northwest of the Thompsontown that is located in Atlantic County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Juniata County community of Thompsontown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thompsontown ...

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.

  • Clarkstown
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Clarkstown is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkstown
  • Clover Leaf Lakes
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Clover Leaf Lakes is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Leaf Lakes
  • Dorothy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Dorothy is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
  • English Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • English Creek is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Creek
  • English Creek Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • English Creek Landing is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Creek Landing
  • Gravelly Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Gravelly Run is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravelly Run
  • High Bank Landing
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • High Bank Landing is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bank Landing
  • Mays Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Mays Landing is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays Landing
  • Scullville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Scullville is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scullville
  • Steelman Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Steelman Landing is located in Atlantic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steelman Landing

How Far From Thompsontown to ...

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

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

  • Mays Landing, which is the Seat of Atlantic County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Thompsontown to Trenton, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 129 miles [207.6 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,776 miles [9,295.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,478 miles [10,425.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,356 miles [7,010.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Thompsontown) 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 Thompsontown 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 Thompsontown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4165, Longitude: -74.7088       In this case, the coordinates for Thompsontown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.484 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.924 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.529 degrees.