RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Allegheny County >> Coal Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Coal Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Coal Valley 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 Coal Valley:
    • 40.318509, -79.899330
    • 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 Coal Valley
  • 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 Allegheny County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
    • Since Coal Valley is near Washington County and also Westmoreland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Coal Valley

Communities Also Named Coal Valley ...

We found five communities that are also named Coal Valley.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Coal Valley is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Walker County
      • This Coal Valley is located in Walker County and lies 614 miles [988.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Coal Valley that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walker County community of Coal Valley.
    • Illinois
      • Rock Island County
      • This Coal Valley is located in Rock Island County and lies 556 miles [894.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Coal Valley that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rock Island County community of Coal Valley.
    • Iowa
      • Boone County
      • This Coal Valley is located in Boone County and lies 738 miles [1,187.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Coal Valley that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Coal Valley.
    • Kansas
      • Cherokee County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Coal Valley [Cherokee County].
    • West Virginia
      • Logan County
      • This Coal Valley is located in Logan County and lies 193 miles [310.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Coal Valley that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Coal Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Coal Valley ...

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.

  • Boston
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Curry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Curry is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry
  • Eden Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Eden Park is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Park
  • Elizabeth
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Experiment
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Experiment is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Experiment
  • Gill Hall
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gill Hall is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill Hall
  • Glassport
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Homeville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Homeville is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeville
  • Liberty
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Liberty is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,438 people
  • Lincoln
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
  • Lincoln Place
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln Place is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Place
  • Lovedale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lovedale is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovedale
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • New England
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • New England is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New England
    • Option
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Option is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Option
    • Otto
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Otto is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otto
    • Pierce
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pierce is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce
    • Pleasant Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Surgeon Hall
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Surgeon Hall is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surgeon Hall

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

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

  • Pittsburgh, which is the Seat of Allegheny County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Coal Valley to Pittsburgh, with an average speed<4> 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 158 miles [254.3 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 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 181 miles [291.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,955 miles [9,583.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,672 miles [10,737.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,548 miles [7,319.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Coal Valley) 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 Coal Valley, 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 Coal Valley 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 Coal Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3185, Longitude: -79.8993       In this case, the coordinates for Coal Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.533 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.524 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.425 degrees.