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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Westland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Westland 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 Westland:
    • 45.802077, -119.372519
    • 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 Westland
  • 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 Umatilla County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Umatilla County
    • Since Westland is near Morrow County and also Benton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morrow 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 Westland

Communities Also Named Westland ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Westland.

Within Oregon, the name Westland is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Tuscaloosa County
      • This Westland is located in Tuscaloosa County and lies 1,880 miles [3,025.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscaloosa County community of Westland.
    • Indiana
      • Hancock County
      • This Westland is located in Hancock County and lies 1,743 miles [2,805.1 km]<1> to the east of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Westland.
      • Putnam County
      • This Westland is located in Putnam County and lies 1,692 miles [2,723 km] to the east of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Westland.
    • Kansas
      • Clark 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 Kansas community of Westland [Clark County].
    • Michigan
      • Wayne County
      • This Westland is located in Wayne County and lies 1,785 miles [2,872.7 km]<1> to the east of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Westland.
    • Mississippi
      • Hinds 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 Mississippi community of Westland [Hinds County].
    • Ohio
      • Morgan County
      • This Westland is located in Morgan County and lies 1,931 miles [3,107.6 km]<1> to the east of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Westland.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Washington County
      • This Westland is located in Washington County and lies 1,989 miles [3,201 km]<1> to the east of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Westland.
    • Texas
      • Tarrant County
      • This Westland is located in Tarrant County and lies 1,469 miles [2,364.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Westland.
    • Utah
      • Davis County
      • This Westland is located in Davis County and lies 488 miles [785.4 km]<1> to the southeast of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of Westland.
    • Virginia
      • Lancaster County
      • This Westland is located in Lancaster County and lies 2,262 miles [3,640.3 km]<1> to the east of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Westland.
      • Roanoke City
      • This Westland is located in Roanoke City and lies 2,094 miles [3,370 km] to the east of the Westland that is located in Umatilla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke City community of Westland.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westland ...

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.

  • Alpine
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alpine is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Bucks Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bucks Corners is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Corners
  • Butter Creek Junction
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Cold Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cold Springs is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Echo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Echo is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 705 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <3>
  • Longview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Longview is located in Benton County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Ordnance ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Ordnance is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordnance
  • Plymouth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Plymouth is located in Benton County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
  • Power City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Power City is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Power City

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

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

  • Pendleton, which is the Seat of Umatilla County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Westland to Pendleton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 187 miles [300.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,185 miles [3,516.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 86 days and walking would take 125 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,841 miles [11,009.5 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 7,607 miles [12,242.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,687 miles [9,152.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Westland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Westland 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Westland 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 Westland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8021, Longitude: -119.3725       In this case, the coordinates for Westland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.336 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.378 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.973 degrees.