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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bowest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bowest 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 Bowest:
    • 39.987575, -79.590594
    • 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 Bowest
  • 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Since Bowest is near Westmoreland County and also Somerset County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Somerset 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 Bowest

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bowest ...

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.

  • Breakneck
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Breakneck is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakneck
  • Coldbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Coldbrook is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook
  • Crossland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Crossland is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossland
  • Factory Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Factory Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factory Hill
  • Furnace Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Furnace Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
  • Graham Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Graham Crossing is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Crossing
  • Hardy Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hardy Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy Hill
  • Hulltown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hulltown is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulltown
  • Indian Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Indian Creek is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Irishtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Irishtown is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irishtown
  • Little Summit
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Little Summit is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Summit
  • Monarch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Monarch is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monarch
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Mount Independence
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Mount Independence is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Independence
    • Pleasant Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Hill is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
    • Poplar Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Poplar Grove is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
    • Raineytown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Raineytown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raineytown
    • Reservoir Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Reservoir Hill is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reservoir Hill
    • Rogerstown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rogerstown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogerstown
    • Trotter
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Trotter is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotter

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

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

  • Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bowest to Uniontown, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 144 miles [231.7 km] to the east (E). 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 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 155 miles [249.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,957 miles [9,586.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,672 miles [10,737.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,548 miles [7,319.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bowest) 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 Bowest 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 Bowest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9876, Longitude: -79.5906       In this case, the coordinates for Bowest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.361 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.278 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.408 degrees.