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 Barnum, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Barnum and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Barnum:
    • 42.002287, -78.411685
    • 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 Barnum
  • 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 Cattaraugus County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cattaraugus County
    • Since Barnum is near McKean County and also Allegany County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McKean County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegany 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 Barnum

Communities Also Named Barnum ...

We found nine communities that are also named Barnum.

Within New York, the name Barnum is unique.

Beyond New York, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Barnum lies 3,560 miles [5,729.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Barnum that is located in Cattaraugus County.
    • Connecticut
      • Fairfield 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 Connecticut community of Barnum [Fairfield County].
    • Iowa
      • Webster County
      • This Barnum is located in Webster County and lies 814 miles [1,310 km]<1> to the west of the Barnum that is located in Cattaraugus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webster County community of Barnum.
    • Michigan
      • Marquette 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 Michigan community of Barnum [Marquette County].
    • Minnesota
      • Carlton County
      • This Barnum is located in Carlton County and lies 770 miles [1,239.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Barnum that is located in Cattaraugus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carlton County community of Barnum.
    • Texas
      • Polk County
      • This Barnum is located in Polk County and lies 1,178 miles [1,895.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Barnum that is located in Cattaraugus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Barnum.
    • West Virginia
      • Mineral County
      • This Barnum is located in Mineral County and lies 180 miles [289.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Barnum that is located in Cattaraugus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mineral County community of Barnum.
    • Wisconsin
      • Crawford County
      • This Barnum is located in Crawford County and lies 636 miles [1,023.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Barnum that is located in Cattaraugus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Barnum.
    • Wyoming
      • Johnson County
      • This Barnum is located in Johnson County and lies 1,440 miles [2,317.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Barnum that is located in Cattaraugus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Barnum.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Barnum ...

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.

  • Boardmanville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Boardmanville is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boardmanville
  • Duke Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Duke Center is located in McKean County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Center
  • Four Mile
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Four Mile is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Mile
  • Gardens of Brother Leo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Gardens of Brother Leo is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardens of Brother Leo
  • Harrisburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Harrisburg is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Haymaker
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Haymaker is located in McKean County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymaker
  • Homer Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Homer Hill is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer Hill
  • Indian Crossing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Indian Crossing is located in McKean County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Crossing
  • Knapp Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Knapp Creek is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knapp Creek
  • Main Settlement
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Main Settlement is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Main Settlement
  • Rock City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Rock City is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
  • Toll Gate Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Toll Gate Corner is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toll Gate Corner
  • Walkertown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Walkertown is located in McKean County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkertown

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

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

  • Little Valley, which is the Seat of Cattaraugus County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Barnum to Little Valley, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 241 miles [387.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 226 miles [363.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,822 miles [9,369.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,542 miles [10,528.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,418 miles [7,110.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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- Barnum) 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 Barnum 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 Barnum 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 Barnum. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0023, Longitude: -78.4117       In this case, the coordinates for Barnum have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.504 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.618 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.098 degrees.