RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Montgomery County >> Graterford >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Graterford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Graterford 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 Graterford:
    • 40.225659, -75.454623
    • 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 Graterford
  • 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 Graterford is near Chester County and also Bucks County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chester County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bucks 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 Graterford

Curious and Interesting Names Near Graterford ...

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.

  • Chestnut Pointe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Pointe is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Pointe
  • Collegeville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Creamery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Delphi
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Delphi is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphi
  • Fox Heath
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Fox Heath is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Heath
  • Harmony Towne
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Harmony Towne is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Towne
  • Heather View
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Heather View is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather View
  • Limerick
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Limerick Greene
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Limerick Greene is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limerick Greene
  • Pennypacker Road
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pennypacker Road is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennypacker Road
  • Providence Green
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Providence Green is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Green
  • Providence Knoll
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Providence Knoll is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Knoll
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Providence Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Providence Ridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Ridge
    • Shirks Corner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Shirks Corner is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirks Corner
    • Sugar Hill Farms
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sugar Hill Farms is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill Farms
    • Walnut Farms
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Walnut Farms is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Farms

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Graterford and extending to:

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Graterford to Norristown, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 75 miles [120.7 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 124 miles [199.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,775 miles [9,294 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,482 miles [10,431.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,358 miles [7,013.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Graterford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Graterford 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 Graterford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2257, Longitude: -75.4546       In this case, the coordinates for Graterford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.851 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.468 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.504 degrees.