Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blacktown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blacktown and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Blacktown

• 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 Blacktown:
  • 41.166726, -80.173395
  • 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 Blacktown

• 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 Mercer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer County
  • Since Blacktown is near Lawrence County and also Butler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Butler 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 Blacktown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blacktown ...

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.

• Amsterdam
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Amsterdam is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
• Bowie
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bowie is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowie
• Centertown
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Centertown is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centertown
• Currys Mills
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Currys Mills is located in Butler County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Currys Mills
• Enterprise
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Enterprise is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
• Hope Mills
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hope Mills is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Mills
• Indian Run
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Indian Run is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run
• Irishtown
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Irishtown is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irishtown
• Leesburg
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Leesburg is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesburg
• London
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • London is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
• Perrys Corners
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Perrys Corners is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrys Corners
• Plain Grove
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Plain Grove is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plain Grove
• Swamproot
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Swamproot is located in Mercer County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swamproot

How Far From Blacktown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Blacktown to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Blacktown and extending to:

• Mercer, which is the Seat of Mercer County, lies just to the Northwest.
• Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 182 miles [292.9 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Blacktown to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 228 miles [366.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,929 miles [9,541.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,650 miles [10,702.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,526 miles [7,283.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'