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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Jacktown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Jacktown 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 Jacktown:
    • 45.449562, -122.919824
    • 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 Jacktown
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Jacktown is near Clackamas County and also Multnomah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clackamas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Multnomah 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 Jacktown

Communities Also Named Jacktown ...

We found nine communities that are also named Jacktown.

Within Oregon, the name Jacktown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Casey County
      • This Jacktown is located in Casey County and lies 2,017 miles [3,246 km]<1> to the east of the Jacktown that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Casey County community of Jacktown.
    • Maryland
      • Dorchester County
      • This Jacktown is located in Dorchester County and lies 2,416 miles [3,888.2 km]<1> to the east of the Jacktown that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dorchester County community of Jacktown.
    • Michigan
      • Leelanau 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 Michigan community of Jacktown [Leelanau County].
    • North Carolina
      • McDowell County
      • This Jacktown is located in McDowell County and lies 2,225 miles [3,580.8 km]<1> to the east of the Jacktown that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McDowell County community of Jacktown.
    • Ohio
      • Butler County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Jacktown [Butler County].
      • Delaware County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Delaware County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Jacktown.
    • Oklahoma
      • Lincoln County
      • This Jacktown is located in Lincoln County and lies 1,515 miles [2,438.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Jacktown that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Jacktown.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Jacktown is located in Westmoreland County and lies 2,186 miles [3,518 km]<1> to the east of the Jacktown that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Jacktown.
    • Tennessee
      • Monroe County
      • This Jacktown is located in Monroe County and lies 2,124 miles [3,418.2 km]<1> to the east of the Jacktown that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Jacktown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Jacktown ...

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.

  • Aloha
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Blooming
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Blooming is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blooming
  • Bonita
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Bonita is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonita
  • Forest Grove Junction
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Forest Grove Junction is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove Junction
  • Hazeldale
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Hazeldale is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazeldale
  • King City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Merle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Merle is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merle
  • Progress
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Progress is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progress
  • Reedville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Reedville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedville
  • Rockcreek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Rockcreek is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockcreek
  • Six Corners
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Six Corners is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Corners
  • Witch Hazel
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Witch Hazel is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witch Hazel

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

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

  • Hillsboro, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the North.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 35 miles [56.3 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Jacktown to Salem, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,358 miles [3,794.8 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 93 days and walking would take 134 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,685 miles [12,367.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,800 miles [9,334.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>'

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- Jacktown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Jacktown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Jacktown 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.
<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 Jacktown 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 Jacktown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.4496, Longitude: -122.9198       In this case, the coordinates for Jacktown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.249 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.76 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.283 degrees.