RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Westchester County >> Bedford Center >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bedford Center, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bedford Center 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 Bedford Center:
    • 41.220095, -73.658185
    • 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 Bedford Center
  • 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 Westchester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westchester County
    • Since Bedford Center is near Fairfield County and also Putnam County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfield County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Putnam 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 Bedford Center

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bedford Center ...

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.

  • Armawalk
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Armawalk is located in Westchester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armawalk
  • Butlerville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Butlerville is located in Westchester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butlerville
  • Cross River
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Goldens Bridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Granite Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Heritage Hills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Heritage Hills is located in Westchester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
  • High Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • High Ridge is located in Fairfield County (CT)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Ridge
  • Horseshoe Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Horseshoe Hill is located in Westchester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Hill
  • Hunting Ridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hunting Ridge is located in Fairfield County (CT)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Ridge
  • Lake Purdy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lake Purdy is located in Westchester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
  • Lewisboro
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Lincolndale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Long Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Long Ridge is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Ridge
    • Pound Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Riverbank
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Riverbank is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverbank
    • Twin Lakes Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Twin Lakes Village is located in Westchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes Village
    • Vista
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Windmill Farm
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Windmill Farm is located in Westchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windmill Farm

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Bedford Center and extending to:

  • White Plains, which is the Seat of Westchester County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bedford Center to White Plains, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 239 miles [384.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,658 miles [9,105.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,366 miles [10,245.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,242 miles [6,826.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bedford Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bedford Center 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 Bedford Center. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2201, Longitude: -73.6582       In this case, the coordinates for Bedford Center have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.68 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.303 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.281 degrees.