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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Branch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Branch 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 West Branch:
    • 43.372014, -75.482121
    • 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 West Branch
  • 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 Oneida County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oneida County
    • Since West Branch is near Lewis County and also Albany County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Albany 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 West Branch

Communities Also Named West Branch ...

We found nine communities that are also named West Branch.

Within New York, the name West Branch is unique.

Beyond New York, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Butte 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 West Branch [Butte County].
    • Iowa
      • Cedar County
      • This West Branch is located in Cedar County and lies 814 miles [1,310 km]<2> to the west of the West Branch that is located in Oneida County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cedar County community of West Branch.
    • Michigan
      • Marquette 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 Michigan community of West Branch [Marquette County].
      • Ogemaw County
      • This West Branch is located in Ogemaw County and lies 440 miles [708.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the West Branch that is located in Oneida County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ogemaw County community of West Branch.
    • New Brunswick
      • This West Branch lies 558 miles [898 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Oneida County.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This West Branch lies 631 miles [1,015.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Oneida County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Cambria County
      • This West Branch is located in Cambria County and lies 252 miles [405.6 km]<2> to the southwest of the West Branch that is located in Oneida County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cambria County community of West Branch.
    • Vermont
      • Lamoille County
      • This West Branch is located in Lamoille County and lies 157 miles [252.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the West Branch that is located in Oneida County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lamoille County community of West Branch.
    • Washington
      • Spokane 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 Washington community of West Branch [Spokane County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Branch ...

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.

  • Beartown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Beartown is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
  • Elmer Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Elmer Hill is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer Hill
  • Flint Town
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Flint Town is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Town
  • Freeman Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Freeman Mill is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Mill
  • Frenchville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Frenchville is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchville
  • Hillside
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hillside is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
  • Hurlbutville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Hurlbutville is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurlbutville
  • Lake Delta
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Lake Delta is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Delta
  • Lee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lee is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Lee Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Parson Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Parson Mill is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parson Mill
  • Prussian Settlement
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Prussian Settlement is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prussian Settlement
  • Stokes Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Stokes Corner is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes Corner

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

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

  • Utica, which is the Seat of Oneida County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Branch to Utica, with an average speed<4> 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 most of a day.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 319 miles [513.4 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,646 miles [9,086.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,366 miles [10,245.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,242 miles [6,826.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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 West Branch 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- West Branch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 West Branch 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 West Branch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3720, Longitude: -75.4821       In this case, the coordinates for West Branch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.545 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.628 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.126 degrees.