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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Donnelly, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Donnelly 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 Donnelly:
    • 40.144239, -79.598929
    • 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 Donnelly
  • 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 Westmoreland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Since Donnelly is near Fayette County and also Allegheny County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny 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 Donnelly

Communities Also Named Donnelly ...

We found seven communities that are also named Donnelly.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Donnelly is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Donnelly lies 3,067 miles [4,935.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Donnelly that is located in Westmoreland County.
    • Alberta
      • This Donnelly lies 2,005 miles [3,226.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Donnelly that is located in Westmoreland County.
    • Idaho
      • Valley County
      • This Donnelly is located in Valley County and lies 1,869 miles [3,007.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Donnelly that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valley County community of Donnelly.
    • Iowa
      • Marion 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 Iowa community of Donnelly [Marion County].
    • Kentucky
      • Lee 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 Kentucky community of Donnelly [Lee County].
    • Michigan
      • Montmorency County
      • This Donnelly is located in Montmorency County and lies 411 miles [661.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Donnelly that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montmorency County community of Donnelly.
    • Minnesota
      • Stevens County
      • This Donnelly is located in Stevens County and lies 911 miles [1,466.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Donnelly that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stevens County community of Donnelly.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Donnelly ...

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.

  • Alice
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Alice is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
  • Buckeye
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Buckeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Central
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Central is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
  • Hawkeye
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
  • Iron Bridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Iron Bridge is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Bridge
  • Kingview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Kingview is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingview
  • Morewood
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Morewood is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morewood
  • Mount Pleasant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Orchard Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Orchard Hill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hill
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pinetree
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Pinetree is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinetree
    • Ridge View
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Ridge View is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge View
    • Rocktown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Rocktown is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocktown
    • Standard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Standard is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard
    • Standard Shaft
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Standard Shaft is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard Shaft
    • Walnut Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

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

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

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Donnelly to Greensburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 143 miles [230.1 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 161 miles [259.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,950 miles [9,575.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,666 miles [10,727.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,542 miles [7,309.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Donnelly) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Donnelly 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>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 Donnelly 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 Donnelly. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1442, Longitude: -79.5989       In this case, the coordinates for Donnelly have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.358 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.298 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.355 degrees.