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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Aiken, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Aiken 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 Aiken:
- 41.877999, -78.577877
- 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 Aiken
- 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 McKean County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for McKean County
- Since Aiken is near Cattaraugus County and also Allegany County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cattaraugus County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Allegany 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 Aiken
Communities Also Named Aiken ...
We found ten communities that are also named Aiken.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Aiken is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Crenshaw 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 Aiken [Crenshaw County].
- Georgia
- Effingham 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 Georgia community of Aiken [Effingham County].
- Idaho
- Bingham County
- This Aiken is located in Bingham County and lies 1,711 miles [2,753.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Aiken that is located in McKean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bingham County community of Aiken.
- Illinois
- Jo Daviess County
- This Aiken is located in Jo Daviess County and lies 606 miles [975.3 km]<2> to the west of the Aiken that is located in McKean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jo Daviess County community of Aiken.
- Kansas
- McPherson 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 Kansas community of Aiken [McPherson County].
- Mississippi
- Tate County
- This Aiken is located in Tate County and lies 784 miles [1,261.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Aiken that is located in McKean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tate County community of Aiken.
- South Carolina
- Aiken County
- This Aiken is located in Aiken County and lies 599 miles [964 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Aiken that is located in McKean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aiken County community of Aiken.
- Texas
- Bell County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Bell County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bell County community of Aiken.
- Floyd County
- This Aiken is located in Floyd County and lies 1,352 miles [2,175.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Aiken that is located in McKean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Aiken.
- Shelby County
- This Aiken is located in Shelby County and lies 1,116 miles [1,796 km] to the west southwest of the Aiken that is located in McKean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Aiken.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Aiken ...
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.
- Allen
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Allen is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Bells Camp
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bells Camp is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Camp
- Big Shanty
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cyclone
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Cyclone is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
- Duke Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Farmers Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Farmers Valley is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Valley
- Howard
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Howard is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
- Irishtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Irishtown is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irishtown
- Lewis Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Red Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Red Rock is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
- Walkertown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Walkertown is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkertown
- Wolf Run
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Wolf Run is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Run
How Far From Aiken to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Aiken to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Aiken and extending to:
- Smethport, which is the Seat of McKean County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Aiken to Harrisburg, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 221 miles [355.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,834 miles [9,388.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,554 miles [10,547.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,430 miles [7,129.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
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 Aiken 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Aiken) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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 Aiken, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Aiken 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 Aiken. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8780, Longitude: -78.5779 In this case, the coordinates for Aiken have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.617 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.726 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.225 degrees. |
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