RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Suffolk County >> Head-of-the-Harbor >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Head-of-the-Harbor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Head-of-the-Harbor 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 Head-of-the-Harbor:
    • 40.898055, -73.162344
    • 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.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Head-of-the-Harbor
  • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Curious and Interesting Names Near Head-of-the-Harbor ...

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.

  • Crab Meadow
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crab Meadow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Meadow
    • Crab Meadow is located in Suffolk County
  • Crystal Brook
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Brook
    • Crystal Brook is located in Suffolk County
  • Farmingville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Gordon Heights
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordon Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
    • Gordon Heights is located in Suffolk County
  • Great River Station
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great River Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great River Station
    • Great River Station is located in Suffolk County
  • Greenlawn
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Islip
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Kings Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
    • Kings Park is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kings Park <2>
  • Lake Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Grove
    • Lake Grove is located in Suffolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,055 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Grove <2>
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Little Plains
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Plains
      • Little Plains is located in Suffolk County
    • Middle Island
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middle Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Island
      • Middle Island is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middle Island <2>
    • Pine Aire
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Aire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Aire
      • Pine Aire is located in Suffolk County
    • Ronkonkoma
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sound Beach
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sound Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sound Beach
      • Sound Beach is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sound Beach <2>
    • Terryville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terryville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville
      • Terryville is located in Suffolk County

How Far From Head-of-the-Harbor 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 village such as Head-of-the-Harbor to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Head-of-the-Harbor and extending to:

  • Riverhead, which is the Seat of Suffolk County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<3> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Head-of-the-Harbor to Riverhead, with an average speed<4> 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 125 miles [201.2 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 247 miles [397.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,650 miles [9,092.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,355 miles [10,227.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,232 miles [6,810.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Head-of-the-Harbor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Head-of-the-Harbor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8981, Longitude: -73.1623       In this case, the coordinates for Head-of-the-Harbor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Head-of-the-Harbor to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.422 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.96 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.213 degrees.