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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Greater Point Marion, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Greater Point Marion 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 Greater Point Marion:
    • 39.750078, -79.899224
    • 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 Greater Point Marion
  • 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 Greater Point Marion is near Greene County and also Monongalia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monongalia 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 Greater Point Marion

Curious and Interesting Names Near Greater Point Marion ...

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.

  • Bobtown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Bobtown is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bobtown
  • Cornish
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Cornish is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornish
  • Crystal
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Crystal is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal
  • Friendship Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Friendship Heights is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Heights
  • Glassworks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Glassworks is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glassworks
  • Greystone
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Greystone is located in Monongalia County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
  • Hoard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hoard is located in Monongalia County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoard
  • Locust Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Locust Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
  • Mapletown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Mapletown is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapletown
  • Martin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Martin is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Old Frame
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Frame is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Frame
  • Outcrop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Outcrop is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Outcrop
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sprucetown
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sprucetown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprucetown
    • Stewartstown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Stewartstown is located in Monongalia County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewartstown
    • Sunshine
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Sunshine is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
    • Walnut Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

How Far From Greater Point Marion 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 Greater Point Marion to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Greater Point Marion and extending to:

  • Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Greater Point Marion to Uniontown, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 163 miles [262.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 163 miles [262.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,980 miles [9,623.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,695 miles [10,774.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,571 miles [7,356.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Greater Point Marion) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Greater Point Marion 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 Greater Point Marion. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7501, Longitude: -79.8992       In this case, the coordinates for Greater Point Marion have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.561 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.469 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.631 degrees.