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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brodbecks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brodbecks 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 Brodbecks:
    • 39.769606, -76.826889
    • 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 Brodbecks
  • 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 York County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Since Brodbecks is near Carroll County and also Baltimore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore 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 Brodbecks

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brodbecks ...

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.

  • Cold Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Cold Spring is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Fiscal
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fiscal is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiscal
  • Glenville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Gunpowder Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Gunpowder Ridge is located in Carroll County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunpowder Ridge
  • Hobart
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hobart is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobart
  • Hokes
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hokes is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hokes
  • Kraft Mill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kraft Mill is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kraft Mill
  • Meadow View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Meadow View is located in Carroll County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow View
  • Pierceville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Pierceville is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Rockville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Rockville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
    • Sticks
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Sticks is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sticks
    • Sugar Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Sugar Valley is located in Carroll County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Valley
    • Valley Junction
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Walkers Run
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Walkers Run is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkers Run
    • Young Mans Fancy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • York, which is the Seat of York County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Brodbecks to York, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 35 miles [56.3 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 61 miles [98.2 km] to the south (S). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,852 miles [9,417.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,560 miles [10,557.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,436 miles [7,139 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Brodbecks) 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 Brodbecks 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 Brodbecks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7696, Longitude: -76.8269       In this case, the coordinates for Brodbecks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.706 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.365 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.283 degrees.