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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Union Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Union Valley 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 Union Valley:
    • 40.303720, -74.455985
    • 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 Union Valley
  • 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 Union Valley is near Monmouth County and also Mercer 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 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 Union Valley

Communities Also Named Union Valley ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Union Valley.

Within New Jersey, the name Union Valley is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Lonoke County
      • This Union Valley is located in Lonoke County and lies 1,031 miles [1,659.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lonoke County community of Union Valley.
    • Kansas
      • Lincoln 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 Kansas community of Union Valley [Lincoln County].
      • Republic County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Union Valley [Republic County].
    • Maryland
      • Cecil County
      • This Union Valley is located in Cecil County and lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cecil County community of Union Valley.
    • New Mexico
      • Roosevelt County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Roosevelt County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roosevelt County community of Union Valley.
    • New York
      • Chenango County
      • This Union Valley is located in Chenango County and lies 150 miles [241.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chenango County community of Union Valley.
    • Oklahoma
      • Pontotoc County
      • This Union Valley is located in Pontotoc County and lies 1,268 miles [2,040.6 km]<1> to the west of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pontotoc County community of Union Valley.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lawrence County
      • This Union Valley is located in Lawrence County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km]<1> to the west of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Union Valley.
    • Tennessee
      • Sevier County
      • This Union Valley is located in Sevier County and lies 586 miles [943.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sevier County community of Union Valley.
      • Williamson 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 Tennessee community of Union Valley [Williamson County].
    • Texas
      • Hunt County
      • This Union Valley is located in Hunt County and lies 1,306 miles [2,101.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunt County community of Union Valley.
      • Kaufman County
      • This Union Valley is located in Kaufman County and lies 1,316 miles [2,117.9 km] to the west southwest of the Union Valley that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kaufman County community of Union Valley.
      • Wilson County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Wilson County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Union Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Union Valley ...

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.

  • Clearbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Clearbrook is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearbrook
  • Fair Play
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fair Play is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Play
  • Gravel Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Gravel Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
  • Half Acre
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Half Acre is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Acre
  • Hickory Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hickory Corner is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Corner
  • Jamesburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jamesburg is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesburg
  • Jamesburg Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jamesburg Gardens is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesburg Gardens
  • Jamesburg Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jamesburg Park is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesburg Park
  • Locust Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Locust Corner is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Corner
  • Middlesex Downs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Middlesex Downs is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesex Downs
  • Twin Rivers
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Twin Rivers is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Rivers

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

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

  • New Brunswick, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Union Valley to New Brunswick, with an average speed<4> 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 16 miles [25.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 168 miles [270.4 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 5,729 miles [9,219.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,434 miles [10,354.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,311 miles [6,937.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Union Valley) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Union Valley 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 Union Valley, 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 Union Valley 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 Union Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3037, Longitude: -74.4560       In this case, the coordinates for Union Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.252 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.802 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.04 degrees.