Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Pontiac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pontiac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Pontiac
- 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 Pontiac:
- 42.623981, -78.968988
- 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 Pontiac
- 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 Erie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Erie County
- Since Pontiac is near Cattaraugus County and also Chautauqua County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cattaraugus County
- eBird sighting report for Chautauqua 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Pontiac ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Pontiac.
Within New York, the name Pontiac is unique.
Beyond New York, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Livingston County
- This Pontiac is located in Livingston County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<2> to the west of the Pontiac that is located in Erie County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Pontiac.
- Saint Clair County
- This Pontiac is located in Saint Clair County and lies 640 miles [1,030 km] to the west southwest of the Pontiac that is located in Erie County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Pontiac.
- Indiana
- Boone 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 Indiana community of Pontiac [Boone County].
- Clay County
- This Pontiac is located in Clay County and lies 472 miles [759.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Pontiac that is located in Erie County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Pontiac.
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Quebec
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pontiac ...
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.
- Clover Bank
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clover Bank have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Bank
- Clover Bank is located in Erie County
- Derby
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Derby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Derby is located in Erie County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derby <4>
- Eden
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Eden is located in Erie County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <4>
- Eden Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Valley
- Eden Valley is located in Erie County
- Evans Center
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evans Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Center
- Evans Center is located in Erie County
- Forest Glen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Glen
- Forest Glen is located in Erie County
- Highland-on-the-Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland-on-the-Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland-on-the-Lake
- Highland-on-the-Lake is located in Erie County
- Jerusalem Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jerusalem Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem Corners
- Jerusalem Corners is located in Erie County
- Lake View
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Lake View is located in Erie County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake View <4>
- New Oregon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Oregon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Oregon
- New Oregon is located in Erie County
- Sunset Bay
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Bay
- Sunset Bay is located in Chautauqua County
- Water Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Water Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Water Valley is located in Erie County
How Far From Pontiac 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 Pontiac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Pontiac and extending to:
- Buffalo, which is the Seat of Erie County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Pontiac to Buffalo, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over 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 264 miles [424.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 276 miles [444.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,817 miles [9,361.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,541 miles [10,526.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,417 miles [7,108.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Pontiac. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Erie County: www.erie.gov/
The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/
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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Pontiac 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pontiac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pontiac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6240, Longitude: -78.9690 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Pontiac to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.805 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.055 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.109 degrees. |