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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Williston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Williston 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 Williston:
    • 42.827607, -78.516487
    • 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 Williston
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Erie County
    • Since Williston is near Wyoming County and also Genesee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Genesee 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 Williston

Communities Also Named Williston ...

We found ten communities that are also named Williston.

Within New York, the name Williston is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Levy County
      • This Williston is located in Levy County and lies 953 miles [1,533.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Levy County community of Williston.
    • Maryland
      • Caroline County
      • This Williston is located in Caroline County and lies 309 miles [497.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caroline County community of Williston.
    • Mississippi
      • Leake County
      • This Williston is located in Leake County and lies 912 miles [1,467.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leake County community of Williston.
    • North Carolina
      • Carteret County
      • This Williston is located in Carteret County and lies 565 miles [909.3 km]<1> to the south of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carteret County community of Williston.
    • North Dakota
      • Williams County
      • This Williston is located in Williams County and lies 1,263 miles [2,032.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Williams County community of Williston.
    • Ohio
      • Ottawa County
      • This Williston is located in Ottawa County and lies 260 miles [418.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ottawa County community of Williston.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Potter County
      • This Williston is located in Potter County and lies 70 miles [112.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Potter County community of Williston.
    • South Carolina
      • Barnwell County
      • This Williston is located in Barnwell County and lies 669 miles [1,076.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barnwell County community of Williston.
    • Tennessee
      • Fayette County
      • This Williston is located in Fayette County and lies 786 miles [1,264.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Williston.
    • Vermont
      • Chittenden County
      • This Williston is located in Chittenden County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Williston that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chittenden County community of Williston.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Williston ...

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.

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

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

  • Buffalo, which is the Seat of Erie County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Williston to Buffalo, with an average speed<3> 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 241 miles [387.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 282 miles [453.8 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,790 miles [9,318.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,514 miles [10,483.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,391 miles [7,066.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Williston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Williston 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 Williston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8276, Longitude: -78.5165    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.503 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.746 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.81 degrees.