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.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Franconia
- 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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Bucks County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Franconia ...
We found seven communities that share the name Franconia.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Franconia is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout 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
- Arizona
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Virginia
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)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridle Run have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridle Run
- Bridle Run is located in Bucks County
- Cross Gate
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cross Gate have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Gate
- Cross Gate is located in Montgomery County
- Harley Glen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harley Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harley Glen
- Harley Glen is located in Montgomery County
- Harleysville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harleysville
- Harleysville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harleysville <5>
- Hunter Crest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunter Crest have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Crest
- Hunter Crest is located in Montgomery County
- Hunters Greene
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunters Greene have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Greene
- Hunters Greene is located in Montgomery County
- Kingscote
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Mainland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Pear Tree Village
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pear Tree Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pear Tree Village
- Pear Tree Village is located in Montgomery County
- Reliance
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Summerwind
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerwind have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwind
- Summerwind is located in Montgomery County
- Unionville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Montgomery County
- Yorkshire Commons
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yorkshire Commons have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Commons
- Yorkshire Commons is located in Montgomery County
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<6> 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<7> 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).<8>
- 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).<9>
- 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).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Franconia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Montgomery County: www.montcopa.org/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
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 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 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' 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.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 |
| <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> | 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 Franconia 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 306.785 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.407 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.426 degrees. |