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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Luther, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Luther 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 Luther:
    • 42.603721, -73.650983
    • 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 Luther
  • 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 Rensselaer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rensselaer County
    • Since Luther is near Albany County and also Columbia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Albany County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia 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 Luther

Communities Also Named Luther ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named Luther.

Within New York, the name Luther is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Clara County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Luther [Santa Clara County].
    • Georgia
      • Warren County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Luther [Warren County].
    • Illinois
      • Mason County
      • This Luther is located in Mason County and lies 844 miles [1,358.3 km]<2> to the west of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mason County community of Luther.
    • Indiana
      • Whitley County
      • This Luther is located in Whitley County and lies 623 miles [1,002.6 km]<2> to the west of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Whitley County community of Luther.
    • Iowa
      • Boone County
      • This Luther is located in Boone County and lies 1,028 miles [1,654.4 km]<2> to the west of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Luther.
    • Kansas
      • Morris County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Luther [Morris County].
      • Washington 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 Luther [Washington County].
    • Michigan
      • Lake County
      • This Luther is located in Lake County and lies 611 miles [983.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Luther.
    • Mississippi
      • Leake County
      • This Luther is located in Leake County and lies 1,094 miles [1,760.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leake County community of Luther.
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis City
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Luther [Saint Louis City].
    • Montana
      • Carbon County
      • This Luther is located in Carbon County and lies 1,773 miles [2,853.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of Luther.
    • North Carolina
      • Buncombe County
      • This Luther is located in Buncombe County and lies 688 miles [1,107.2 km]<2> to the southwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buncombe County community of Luther.
    • Oklahoma
      • Oklahoma County
      • This Luther is located in Oklahoma County and lies 1,343 miles [2,161.3 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma County community of Luther.
    • Oregon
      • Clackamas County
      • This Luther is located in Clackamas County and lies 2,399 miles [3,860.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clackamas County community of Luther.
    • South Carolina
      • Bamberg County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Luther [Bamberg County].
    • Tennessee
      • Hancock County
      • This Luther is located in Hancock County and lies 663 miles [1,067 km]<2> to the southwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Luther.
    • Texas
      • Briscoe County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Luther [Briscoe County].
      • Harrison 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 Texas community of Luther [Harrison County].
      • Howard County
      • This Luther is located in Howard County and lies 1,666 miles [2,681.2 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Luther that is located in Rensselaer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Luther.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Luther ...

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.

  • Barberville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Barberville is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barberville
  • Beaver Dam
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Beaver Dam is located in Albany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Dam
  • Best
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Cedar Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Albany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Eagle Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Eagle Mills is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mills
  • Glass Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Glass Lake is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass Lake
  • Maple Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Maple Grove is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
  • Mountain View
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Mountain View is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Normansville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Sand Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Stony Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Stony Point is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
  • Van Allen Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Van Allen Park is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Allen Park

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

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

  • Troy, which is the Seat of Rensselaer County, lies just to the North.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies just to the west northwest (WNW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 311 miles [500.5 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Luther to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 18 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,602 miles [9,015.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,316 miles [10,164.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,191 miles [6,744.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Luther 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Luther) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Luther, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Luther 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 Luther. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6037, Longitude: -73.6510    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.508 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.336 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.629 degrees.