RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oregon >> Multnomah County >> Fir >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fir, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fir 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 Fir:
    • 45.565952, -122.585928
    • 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 Fir
  • 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 Multnomah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Multnomah County
    • Since Fir is near Clark County and also Clackamas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clark County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clackamas 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 Fir

Communities Also Named Fir ...

We found five communities that are also named Fir.

There is one other community in Oregon that is also named Fir.

Beyond Oregon, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Oregon ...
    • Washington 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 Oregon community of Fir [Washington County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Montgomery County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Fir [Montgomery County].
    • Colorado
      • Costilla County
      • This Fir is located in Costilla County and lies 1,055 miles [1,697.9 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Fir that is located in Multnomah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Costilla County community of Fir.
    • Minnesota
      • Marshall 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 Minnesota community of Fir [Marshall County].
    • Washington
      • Skagit 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 Fir [Skagit County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fir ...

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.

  • Champ
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Champ is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champ
  • Errol Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Errol Heights is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errol Heights
  • Evergreen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Evergreen is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Fisher
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fisher is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
  • Gilbert
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilbert is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert
  • Gilbert Station
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilbert Station is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert Station
  • Graham
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Graham is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
  • Hemlock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hemlock is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
  • Image
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Image is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Image
  • Kings Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kings Heights is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Heights
  • Ladds Circle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ladds Circle is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladds Circle
  • Lents
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Lents is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lents
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Lents Junction
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Lents Junction is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lents Junction
    • Officers Row
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Officers Row is located in Clark County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Officers Row
    • Rockwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockwood is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
    • University Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • University Park is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park

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

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

  • Portland, which is the Seat of Multnomah County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<3> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Fir to Salem, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,341 miles [3,767.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,910 miles [11,120.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,673 miles [12,348.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,785 miles [9,310.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<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 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 Fir 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Fir, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Fir) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Fir 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 Fir. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.5660, Longitude: -122.5859       In this case, the coordinates for Fir have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.977 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.448 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.06 degrees.