Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dawson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dawson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dawson
- 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 Dawson:
- 40.046741, -79.653929
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Dawson
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Dawson is near Westmoreland County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Dawson ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Dawson.
There are three communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Dawson.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another 25 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 25 communities, 26 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
- Beaver County
- Cambria County
- Forest County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Manitoba
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nodaway County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Dawson [Nodaway County].
- Wright County
- This Dawson is located in Wright County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the west of the Dawson that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wright County community of Dawson.
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Yukon
- This Dawson lies 2,875 miles [4,626.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Dawson that is located in Fayette County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dawson ...
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.
- Chaintown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Coldbrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Crossland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Dry Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Elm Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Flatwoods
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Graham Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graham Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Crossing
- Graham Crossing is located in Fayette County
- Hulltown
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Liberty
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Little Summit
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Summit
- Little Summit is located in Fayette County
- Monarch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Nellie
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Continue List (4 more) ...
- Poplar Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Poplar Grove is located in Fayette County
- Raineytown
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raineytown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raineytown
- Raineytown is located in Fayette County
- Rogerstown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rogerstown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogerstown
- Rogerstown is located in Fayette County
- Trotter
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Poplar Grove
How Far From Dawson 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 Dawson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dawson and extending to:
- Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dawson to Uniontown, with an average speed<6> 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 147 miles [236.6 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 160 miles [257.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The shortest distance<7> 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).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,673 miles [10,739.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,548 miles [7,319.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dawson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Fayette County: www.fayettepa.org
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Dawson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dawson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0467, Longitude: -79.6539 In this case, the coordinates for Dawson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Dawson could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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 Dawson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Dawson to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.397 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.327 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.415 degrees. |