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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Penn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Penn 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 Penn:
    • 44.029566, -123.529824
    • 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 Penn
  • 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 Lane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lane County
    • Since Penn is near Douglas County and also Benton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Benton 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 Penn

Communities Also Named Penn ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Penn.

Within Oregon, the name Penn is unique.

Beyond Oregon, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Coffee 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 Alabama community of Penn [Coffee County].
      • Morgan County
      • This Penn is located in Morgan County and lies 2,042 miles [3,286.3 km]<2> to the east of the Penn that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Penn.
    • Florida
      • Putnam 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 Florida community of Penn [Putnam County].
    • Michigan
      • Cass County
      • This Penn is located in Cass County and lies 1,887 miles [3,036.8 km]<2> to the east of the Penn that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Penn.
    • Mississippi
      • Lowndes 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 Mississippi community of Penn [Lowndes County].
    • Nebraska
      • Garden 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 Nebraska community of Penn [Garden County].
    • North Dakota
      • Ramsey County
      • This Penn is located in Ramsey County and lies 1,199 miles [1,929.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Penn that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ramsey County community of Penn.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster 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 Pennsylvania community of Penn [Lancaster County].
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Penn is located in Westmoreland County and lies 2,233 miles [3,593.7 km]<2> to the east of the Penn that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Penn.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Penn lies 976 miles [1,570.7 km]<2> to the northeast of the Penn that is located in Lane County.
    • Texas
      • Hopkins 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 Texas community of Penn [Hopkins County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Penn ...

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.

  • Crow
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Crow is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow
  • Flagg
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Flagg is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg
  • Globe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Globe is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
  • Greenleaf
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenleaf is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenleaf
  • Long Tom
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Long Tom is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Tom
  • Low Pass
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Low Pass is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Pass
  • Maywood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Maywood is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maywood
  • Mound ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mound is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound
  • Sailor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sailor is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sailor
  • Triangle Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Triangle Lake is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle Lake
  • Wolf Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wolf Creek is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek

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

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

  • Eugene, which is the Seat of Lane County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Penn to Eugene, 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 most of a day.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,399 miles [3,860.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,025 miles [11,305.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,788 miles [12,533.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,900 miles [9,495.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

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 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 Penn 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Penn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Penn 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 Penn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0296, Longitude: -123.5298       In this case, the coordinates for Penn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.67 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.189 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.747 degrees.