RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Armstrong County >> Belknap >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Belknap, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Belknap 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 Belknap:
    • 40.899232, -79.302818
    • 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 Belknap
  • 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 Armstrong County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Armstrong County
    • Since Belknap is near Indiana County and also Clarion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Indiana County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarion 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 Belknap

Communities Also Named Belknap ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Belknap.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Belknap is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of fifteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Dallas County
      • This Belknap is located in Dallas County and lies 736 miles [1,184.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Belknap.
    • Arkansas
      • Cross County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Belknap [Cross County].
    • Georgia
      • Bryan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Belknap [Bryan County].
    • Illinois
      • Johnson County
      • This Belknap is located in Johnson County and lies 571 miles [918.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Belknap.
    • Indiana
      • Clark County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Belknap [Clark County].
      • Vanderburgh County
      • This Belknap is located in Vanderburgh County and lies 490 miles [788.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vanderburgh County community of Belknap.
    • Iowa
      • Davis County
      • This Belknap is located in Davis County and lies 684 miles [1,100.8 km]<1> to the west of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of Belknap.
    • Kansas
      • Chautauqua County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Belknap [Chautauqua County].
    • Kentucky
      • Wolfe County
      • This Belknap is located in Wolfe County and lies 305 miles [490.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wolfe County community of Belknap.
    • Michigan
      • Allegan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Belknap [Allegan County].
      • Presque Isle County
      • This Belknap is located in Presque Isle County and lies 382 miles [614.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Presque Isle County community of Belknap.
    • Montana
      • Sanders County
      • This Belknap is located in Sanders County and lies 1,826 miles [2,938.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sanders County community of Belknap.
    • Ohio
      • Harrison County
      • This Belknap is located in Harrison County and lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harrison County community of Belknap.
    • Texas
      • Young County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Young County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Young County community of Belknap.
    • Utah
      • Sevier County
      • This Belknap is located in Sevier County and lies 1,748 miles [2,813.1 km]<1> to the west of the Belknap that is located in Armstrong County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sevier County community of Belknap.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Belknap ...

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.

  • Bryan
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Bryan is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
  • Climax
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Climax is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
  • Deanville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Deanville is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deanville
  • Dee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Dee is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dee
  • Distant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Echo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Echo is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
  • Hoosicks Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hoosicks Mill is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoosicks Mill
  • Loop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Loop is located in Indiana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loop
  • Oscar
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Oscar is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
  • Pine Furnace
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Furnace is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Furnace
  • Rural Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Slabtown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Slabtown is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
  • Smicksburg Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Smicksburg Station is located in Indiana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smicksburg Station

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

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

  • Kittanning, which is the Seat of Armstrong County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Belknap to Kittanning, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 133 miles [214 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 183 miles [294.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,624 miles [10,660.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,499 miles [7,240.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Belknap) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Belknap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Belknap 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.
<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 Belknap 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 Belknap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8992, Longitude: -79.3028       In this case, the coordinates for Belknap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.133 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.159 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.94 degrees.