RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for New York





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Durham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Durham 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 Durham:
    • 42.390637, -74.235697
    • 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 West Durham
  • 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 West Durham ...

We found two communities that share the name West Durham.

Within New York, the name West Durham is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Androscoggin County
      • This West Durham is located in Androscoggin County and lies 232 miles [373.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the West Durham that is located in Greene County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Androscoggin County community of West Durham.
    • North Carolina
      • Durham 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 North Carolina community of West Durham [Durham County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Durham ...

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.

  • Conesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
    • Conesville is located in Schoharie County
  • Cooksburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksburg
    • Cooksburg is located in Albany County
  • Flat Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Creek
    • Flat Creek is located in Schoharie County
  • Freehold
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freehold have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freehold
    • Freehold is located in Greene County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freehold <4>
  • Hensonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hensonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensonville
    • Hensonville is located in Greene County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hensonville <4>
  • Lambs Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lambs Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs Corner
    • Lambs Corner is located in Albany County
  • Manorkill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manorkill
    • Manorkill is located in Schoharie County
  • Maplecrest
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maplecrest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplecrest
    • Maplecrest is located in Greene County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maplecrest <4>
  • Medusa
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • North Settlement
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Settlement have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Settlement
    • North Settlement is located in Greene County
  • Potter Hollow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter Hollow
    • Potter Hollow is located in Albany County
  • Red Falls
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Falls
    • Red Falls is located in Greene County

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

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

  • Catskill, which is the Seat of Greene County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Durham to Catskill, 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 most of a day.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 282 miles [453.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,635 miles [9,068.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,349 miles [10,217.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,224 miles [6,797.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Durham. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

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 drawn from Point A (ie- West Durham) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Durham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3906, Longitude: -74.2357       In this case, the coordinates for West Durham have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 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 West Durham 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>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 West Durham 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 305.891 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.732 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.999 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024