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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hoffmeister, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hoffmeister 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 Hoffmeister:
    • 43.390902, -74.716821
    • 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 Hoffmeister
  • 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 Hamilton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamilton County
    • Since Hoffmeister is near Herkimer County and also Fulton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Herkimer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fulton 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 Hoffmeister

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hoffmeister ...

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.

  • Bliss Corner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bliss Corner is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss Corner
  • Bull Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bull Hill is located in Herkimer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Hill
  • Grant
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Grant is located in Herkimer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
  • Gray
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gray is located in Herkimer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
  • Hurricane
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hurricane is located in Herkimer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane
  • Irondale
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Irondale is located in Herkimer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irondale
  • Knappville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Knappville is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knappville
  • Ohio
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Ohio is located in Herkimer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohio
  • Oregon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Oregon is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon
  • Paper Mill Corners
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Paper Mill Corners is located in Herkimer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Corners
  • Shaker Place
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Shaker Place is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Place

How Far From Hoffmeister to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Hoffmeister and extending to:

  • Lake Pleasant, which is the Seat of Hamilton County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hoffmeister to Lake Pleasant, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 69 miles [111 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 332 miles [534.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,614 miles [9,034.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,333 miles [10,192 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,208 miles [6,772.1 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hoffmeister) 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 Hoffmeister 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 Hoffmeister. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3909, Longitude: -74.7168       In this case, the coordinates for Hoffmeister have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.066 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.093 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.754 degrees.