Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Esther, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Esther and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Esther
- 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 Esther:
- 40.693676, -80.468955
- 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 Esther
- 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 Beaver County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Beaver County
- Since Esther is near Columbiana County and also Hancock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Columbiana County
- eBird sighting report for Hancock 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 Esther ...
We found six communities that share the name Esther.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Esther is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, five are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Esther lies 1,597 miles [2,570.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Esther that is located in Beaver County.
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Esther ...
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.
- Blackhawk
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Dry Run
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Five Points
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Beaver County
- Georgetown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Georgetown is located in Beaver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Georgetown <5>
- Glasgow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Hookstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hookstown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hookstown
- Hookstown is located in Beaver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hookstown <5>
- Industry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industry
- Industry is located in Beaver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,696 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Industry <5>
- Merrill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Rowtown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Shippingport
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippingport
- Shippingport is located in Beaver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
- Sprucevale
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sprucevale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprucevale
- Sprucevale is located in Columbiana County (OH)
How Far From Esther 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 Esther to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Esther once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Esther and extending to:
- Beaver, which is the Seat of Beaver County, lies just to the East.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 190 miles [305.8 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Esther to Harrisburg, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 220 miles [354.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,961 miles [9,593.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,682 miles [10,753.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,557 miles [7,333.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Beaver County: www.co.beaver.pa.us/
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- Esther) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Esther. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6937, Longitude: -80.4690 In this case, the coordinates for Esther 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 Esther 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 Esther, 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Esther 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 309.867 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.96 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.547 degrees. |