Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portsmouth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portsmouth and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Portsmouth
- 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 Portsmouth:
- 38.734794, -82.989345
- 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 Portsmouth
- 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 Scioto County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Scioto County
- Since Portsmouth is near Greenup County and also Lewis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Greenup County
- eBird sighting report for Lewis 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 Portsmouth ...
We found nine communities that share the name Portsmouth.
Within Ohio, the name Portsmouth is unique.
Beyond Ohio, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Shelby County
- This Portsmouth is located in Shelby County and lies 690 miles [1,110.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Scioto County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Portsmouth.
- Kentucky
- Breathitt County
- This Portsmouth is located in Breathitt County and lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Portsmouth that is located in Scioto County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Breathitt County community of Portsmouth.
- Michigan
- Bay 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 Michigan community of Portsmouth [Bay County].
- New Hampshire
- Rockingham County
- This Portsmouth is located in Rockingham County and lies 702 miles [1,129.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Scioto County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Portsmouth.
- North Carolina
- Carteret County
- This Portsmouth is located in Carteret County and lies 458 miles [737.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Scioto County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carteret County community of Portsmouth.
- Ontario
- This Portsmouth lies 505 miles [812.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Scioto County.
- Rhode Island
- Newport County
- This Portsmouth is located in Newport County and lies 649 miles [1,044.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Scioto County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newport County community of Portsmouth.
- Virginia
- Norfolk City
- 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 Virginia community of Portsmouth [Norfolk City].
- Portsmouth City
- This Portsmouth is located in Portsmouth City and lies 384 miles [618 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Portsmouth that is located in Scioto County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portsmouth City community of Portsmouth.
- Iowa
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portsmouth ...
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.
- Dennis
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Dry Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Eden Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Firebrick
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Frost
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Kirkville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Sugar Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Scioto County
- Sunshine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Twin Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
- Twin Valley is located in Scioto County
How Far From Portsmouth 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 city such as Portsmouth to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Portsmouth and extending to:
- Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Portsmouth to Columbus, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 320 miles [515 km] to the east (E). 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 6,151 miles [9,899.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,870 miles [11,056.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,745 miles [7,636.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Portsmouth: www.ci.portsmouth.oh.us/
The official website for Scioto County: www.sciotocountyohio.com/
The official website for State of Ohio: https://ohio.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Portsmouth) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portsmouth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7348, Longitude: -82.9893 |
| <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 Portsmouth 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 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 Portsmouth to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.486 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.512 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.334 degrees. |