Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dickinson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dickinson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dickinson
- 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 Dickinson:
- 40.113422, -77.334984
- 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 Dickinson
- 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 Cumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
- Since Dickinson is near Adams County and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Adams County
- eBird sighting report for Franklin 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 Dickinson ...
We found ten communities that share the name Dickinson.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Dickinson is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Michigan
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dickinson ...
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.
- Big Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
- Big Spring is located in Cumberland County
- Brushtown
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Cobblesville
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cobblesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobblesville
- Cobblesville is located in Cumberland County
- Hays Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hays Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Grove
- Hays Grove is located in Cumberland County
- Hockersville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hockersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockersville
- Hockersville is located in Cumberland County
- Huntsdale
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsdale
- Huntsdale is located in Cumberland County
- Mount Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Rock
- Mount Rock is located in Cumberland County
- Walnut Bottom
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Bottom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Bottom
- Walnut Bottom is located in Cumberland County
How Far From Dickinson 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 Dickinson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dickinson and extending to:
- Carlisle, which is the Seat of Cumberland County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Dickinson to Carlisle, 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 26 miles [41.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 85 miles [136.8 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,858 miles [9,427.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,569 miles [10,571.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,445 miles [7,153.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dickinson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Dickinson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dickinson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1134, Longitude: -77.3350 In this case, the coordinates for Dickinson 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Dickinson 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> | 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. |
| <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 Dickinson to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.985 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.736 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.367 degrees. |