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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Franconia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Franconia and the surrounding area.
- 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 Franconia:
- 40.309272, -75.356067
- 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 Franconia
- 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
- Since Franconia is near Bucks County and also Lehigh County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bucks County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lehigh 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 Franconia
Communities Also Named Franconia ...
We found seven communities that are also named Franconia.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Franconia 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 ...
- Alabama
- Pickens County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Franconia [Pickens County].
- Arizona
- Mohave County
- This Franconia is located in Mohave County and lies 2,147 miles [3,455.3 km]<2> to the west of the Franconia that is located in Montgomery County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mohave County community of Franconia.
- Minnesota
- Chisago County
- This Franconia is located in Chisago County and lies 942 miles [1,516 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Franconia that is located in Montgomery County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chisago County community of Franconia.
- New Hampshire
- Grafton County
- This Franconia is located in Grafton County and lies 327 miles [526.3 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Franconia that is located in Montgomery County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grafton County community of Franconia.
- Ohio
- Putnam County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Franconia [Putnam County].
- Ontario
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Franconia.
- Virginia
- Fairfax County
- This Franconia is located in Fairfax County and lies 142 miles [228.5 km]<2> to the southwest of the Franconia that is located in Montgomery County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Franconia.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Franconia ...
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.
- Bridle Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Bridle Run is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridle Run
- Cross Gate
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cross Gate is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Gate
- Harley Glen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Harley Glen is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harley Glen
- Harleysville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hunter Crest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hunter Crest is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Crest
- Hunters Greene
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hunters Greene is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Greene
- Kingscote
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Kingscote is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingscote
- Mainland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mainland is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainland
- Pear Tree Village
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Pear Tree Village is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pear Tree Village
- Reliance
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Reliance is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
- Summerwind
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Summerwind is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwind
- Unionville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Unionville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Yorkshire Commons
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Yorkshire Commons is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Commons
How Far From Franconia 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 Franconia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Franconia and extending to:
- Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Franconia to Norristown, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 80 miles [128.7 km] to the west (W). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 132 miles [212.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,767 miles [9,281.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,474 miles [10,418.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,351 miles [7,002.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Franconia 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Franconia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Franconia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Franconia 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 Franconia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3093, Longitude: -75.3561 |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.785 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.407 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.426 degrees. |
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