RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Fayette County >> Furnace Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Furnace Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Furnace Hill 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 Furnace Hill:
    • 39.973131, -79.605317
    • 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 Furnace Hill
  • 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Since Furnace Hill is near Westmoreland County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Furnace Hill

Communities Also Named Furnace Hill ...

We found four communities that are also named Furnace Hill.

There are two communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Furnace Hill.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Berks County
      • This Furnace Hill is located in Berks County and lies 201 miles [323.5 km]<1> to the east of the Furnace Hill that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berks County community of Furnace Hill.
    • Mercer County
      • This Furnace Hill is located in Mercer County and lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Furnace Hill that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Furnace Hill.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Colbert County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Furnace Hill [Colbert County].
    • Virginia
      • Smyth County
      • This Furnace Hill is located in Smyth County and lies 240 miles [386.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Furnace Hill that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smyth County community of Furnace Hill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Furnace Hill ...

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.

  • Coldbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Coldbrook is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook
  • Crossland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Crossland is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossland
  • Factory Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Factory Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factory Hill
  • Graham Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Graham Crossing is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Crossing
  • Hardy Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hardy Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy Hill
  • Indian Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Indian Creek is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Irishtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Irishtown is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irishtown
  • Little Summit
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Little Summit is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Summit
  • Monarch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Monarch is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monarch
  • Mount Independence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Independence is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Independence
  • Poplar Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Poplar Grove is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
  • Reservoir Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Reservoir Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reservoir Hill
  • Rogerstown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rogerstown is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogerstown
  • Trotter
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Trotter is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotter

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

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

  • Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 145 miles [233.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Furnace Hill to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 155 miles [249.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,958 miles [9,588.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,674 miles [10,740.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,549 miles [7,320.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Furnace Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Furnace Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 Furnace Hill 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 Furnace Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9731, Longitude: -79.6053       In this case, the coordinates for Furnace Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.371 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.286 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.42 degrees.