Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Gideon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gideon and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Gideon
- 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 Gideon:
- 40.073921, -79.048696
- 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 Gideon
- 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 Somerset County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Somerset County
- Since Gideon is near Westmoreland County and also Fayette County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
- eBird sighting report for Fayette 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 Gideon ...
We found four communities that share the name Gideon.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Gideon is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gideon ...
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.
- Coal Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Junction
- Coal Junction is located in Somerset County
- Edie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Geiger
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Gray
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Husband
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Jenners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Jenners Crossroads
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jenners Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
- Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
- Meadowdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
- Meadowdale is located in Somerset County
- Randolph
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Roytown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
- Roytown is located in Somerset County
How Far From Gideon 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 Gideon to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Gideon and extending to:
- Somerset, which is the Seat of Somerset County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Gideon to Harrisburg, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 134 miles [215.7 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,931 miles [9,545 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,646 miles [10,695.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,521 miles [7,275.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gideon. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Somerset County: www.co.somerset.pa.us/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Gideon 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 from Point A (ie- Gideon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gideon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0739, Longitude: -79.0487 In this case, the coordinates for Gideon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Gideon to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.026 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.91 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.136 degrees. |