RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Lackawanna County >> Austin Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Austin Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Austin Heights 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 Austin Heights:
    • 41.382857, -75.742970
    • 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 Austin Heights
  • 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 Lackawanna County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lackawanna County
    • Since Austin Heights is near Luzerne County and also Wyoming County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming 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 Austin Heights

Communities Also Named Austin Heights ...

We found one communities that are also named Austin Heights.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Austin Heights is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Austin Heights in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Austin Heights lies 2,311 miles [3,719.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Austin Heights that is located in Lackawanna County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Austin Heights ...

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.

  • Barbertown ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Barbertown is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barbertown
  • Bush Patch
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Bush Patch is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush Patch
  • Cork Lane
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cork Lane is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cork Lane
  • Green Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Ridge is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
  • Greenwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Greenwood is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Hillside Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillside Junction is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Junction
  • Hughestown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hughestown is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughestown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,356 people
  • Milwaukee
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
  • Providence
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Providence is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Ransom
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Ransom is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransom
  • Spike Island
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Spike Island is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spike Island
  • Starks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Starks is located in Lackawanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks

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

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

  • Scranton, which is the Seat of Lackawanna County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Austin Heights to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 184 miles [296.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,739 miles [9,236 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,452 miles [10,383.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,327 miles [6,963.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

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- Austin Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Austin Heights 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 Austin Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3829, Longitude: -75.7430       In this case, the coordinates for Austin Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.917 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.727 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.136 degrees.