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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Breakneck, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Breakneck 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 Breakneck:
    • 40.040907, -79.540593
    • 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 Breakneck
  • 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 Breakneck 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 Breakneck

Communities Also Named Breakneck ...

We found two communities that are also named Breakneck.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Breakneck is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Hartford County
      • This Breakneck is located in Hartford County and lies 380 miles [611.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Breakneck that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hartford County community of Breakneck.
    • Ohio
      • Portage County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Portage County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portage County community of Breakneck.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Breakneck ...

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.

  • Buckeye
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Buckeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Coldbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Coldbrook is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook
  • Crossland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Crossland is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossland
  • Dry Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Dry Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Hill
  • Furnace Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Furnace Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
  • Hulltown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hulltown is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulltown
  • Indian Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Indian Creek is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Iron Bridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Iron Bridge is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Bridge
  • Kingview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingview is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingview
  • Normalville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pinetree
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pinetree is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinetree
  • Pleasant Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Poplar Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Poplar Grove is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
    • Raineytown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Raineytown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raineytown
    • Reservoir Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Reservoir Hill is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reservoir Hill
    • Rogerstown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rogerstown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogerstown
    • Trotter
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Trotter is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotter
    • Walnut Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

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

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

  • Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Breakneck to Uniontown, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 141 miles [226.9 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 8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,952 miles [9,578.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,668 miles [10,731.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,543 miles [7,311.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Breakneck) 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 Breakneck, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Breakneck 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 Breakneck. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0409, Longitude: -79.5406       In this case, the coordinates for Breakneck have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.328 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.248 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.367 degrees.