RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Washington County >> Bower Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bower Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bower Hill 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 Bower Hill:
    • 40.260348, -80.067831
    • 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 Bower Hill
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Bower Hill is near Allegheny County and also Westmoreland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland 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 Bower Hill

Communities Also Named Bower Hill ...

We found one communities that are also named Bower Hill.

There is one other community in Pennsylvania that is also named Bower Hill.

Beyond Pennsylvania.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Allegheny County
      • This Bower Hill is located in Allegheny County and lies 7 miles [11.3 km]<1> to the north of the Bower Hill that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Bower Hill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bower Hill ...

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.

  • Cool Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cool Valley is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Valley
  • Curry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Curry is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry
  • Eighty Four
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Elkhorn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Elkhorn is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Experiment
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Experiment is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Experiment
  • Gambles
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gambles is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gambles
  • Gill Hall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gill Hall is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill Hall
  • Ginger Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ginger Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginger Hill
  • Hill Church
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hill Church is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Church
  • Hillcrest
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hillcrest is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Jewell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jewell is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
  • Library
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Library Junction
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Library Junction is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Library Junction
    • Longview
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Longview is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
    • Pierce
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Pierce is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce
    • Piney Fork
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Piney Fork is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Fork
    • River View
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • River View is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
    • Shire Oaks
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Shire Oaks is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shire Oaks
    • Turkeyfoot
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Turkeyfoot is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeyfoot
    • Weavertown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Weavertown is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weavertown

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

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

  • Washington, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bower Hill to Washington, with an average speed<3> 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 167 miles [268.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 186 miles [299.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,964 miles [9,598.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,682 miles [10,753.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,557 miles [7,333.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Bower Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Bower Hill 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 Bower Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2603, Longitude: -80.0678       In this case, the coordinates for Bower Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.64 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.636 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.522 degrees.