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Tidbits & Trivia
Introduction ...
Below is our collection of tidbits and odds 'n ends for Basket.
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Basket, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Basket 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 Basket:
- 40.390093, -75.826032<1>
- 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 Basket
- 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 Berks County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Berks County
- Since Basket is near Montgomery County and also Chester County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Chester 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 Basket
Communities Also Named Basket ...
We found two communities that are also named Basket.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Basket is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Maryland
- Basket, Worcester 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 Maryland community of Basket [Worcester County].
- New York
- Basket, Sullivan County
- This Basket is located in Sullivan County and lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Basket that is located in Berks County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Basket.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Basket ...
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.
- Beavers Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Beavers Mill is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavers Mill
- Breezy Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Breezy Corner is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breezy Corner
- Cherokee Ranch
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Cherokee Ranch is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Ranch
- Farming Ridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Farming Ridge is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farming Ridge
- Fleetwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Forest Court
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Forest Court is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Court
- Hunters Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Hunters Run is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Run
- Limekiln
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Limekiln is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limekiln
- Maiden Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Maiden Creek is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden Creek
- Marywood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Marywood is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marywood
- Mountain Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain Park is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
- New Jerusalem
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- New Jerusalem is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Jerusalem
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Overlook Woods
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Overlook Woods is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overlook Woods
- Pathfinder Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Pathfinder Valley is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pathfinder Valley
- Pikeville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Pikeville is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville
- Pricetown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Pricetown is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pricetown
- Ramblewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Ramblewood is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramblewood
- Shadow Ridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Shadow Ridge is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Ridge
- Stonersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Stonersville is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonersville
- Stonetown
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Stonetown is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonetown
- Stony Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Stony Point is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
- Temple
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Walnuttown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Walnuttown is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnuttown
- Willow Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Willow Gardens is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Gardens
- Wingspread
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Wingspread is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingspread
- Yellow House
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Yellow House is also located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow House
How Far From Basket 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 included the distance from a community such as Basket to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Basket and extending to:
- Reading, which is the Seat of Berks County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 56 miles [90.1 km]<3> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Basket to Harrisburg, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 121 miles [194.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,784 miles [9,308.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,492 miles [10,447.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,368 miles [7,029.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Footnotes ...
| <1> | GPS Coordinates for Basket:
Decimal: 40.39009, -75.826032
DDMMSS: 40° 23' 24", -75° 49' 33" |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Basket 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Basket) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Basket 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 Basket. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3901, Longitude: -75.8260 In this case, the coordinates for Basket have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.058 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.729 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.596 degrees. |
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