RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tuscan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tuscan 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 Tuscan:
    • 42.586743, -74.769040
    • 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 Tuscan
  • 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 Otsego County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Otsego County
    • Since Tuscan is near Delaware County and also Schoharie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Delaware County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schoharie 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 Tuscan

Communities Also Named Tuscan ...

We found two communities that are also named Tuscan.

Within New York, the name Tuscan is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Choctaw County
      • This Tuscan is located in Choctaw County and lies 1,009 miles [1,623.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Tuscan that is located in Otsego County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Choctaw County community of Tuscan.
    • South Dakota
      • Hutchinson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Tuscan [Hutchinson County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tuscan ...

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.

  • Arabia
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Arabia is located in Schoharie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arabia
  • Charlotteville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chaseville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chaseville is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
  • Elk Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Elk Creek is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
  • Five Points
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Five Points is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Furnaceville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Furnaceville is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnaceville
  • Gothicville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gothicville is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gothicville
  • Lutheranville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Lutheranville is located in Schoharie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lutheranville
  • Maple Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Maple Valley is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Valley
  • Maryland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • Cooperstown, which is the Seat of Otsego County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Tuscan to Cooperstown, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 51 miles [82.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 280 miles [450.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,649 miles [9,091.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,365 miles [10,243.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,240 miles [6,823.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Tuscan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Tuscan 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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Tuscan 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 Tuscan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5867, Longitude: -74.7690       In this case, the coordinates for Tuscan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.195 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.106 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.154 degrees.