RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Grindstone, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grindstone 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 Grindstone:
    • 40.017365, -79.831515
    • 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 Grindstone
  • 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 Grindstone is near Washington County and also Westmoreland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland 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 Grindstone

Communities Also Named Grindstone ...

We found five communities that are also named Grindstone.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Grindstone is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Aroostook County
      • This Grindstone is located in Aroostook County and lies 742 miles [1,194.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Grindstone that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aroostook County community of Grindstone.
      • Penobscot County
      • This Grindstone is located in Penobscot County and lies 691 miles [1,112.1 km] to the northeast of the Grindstone that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Penobscot County community of Grindstone.
    • New York
      • Jefferson County
      • This Grindstone is located in Jefferson County and lies 349 miles [561.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Grindstone that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Grindstone.
    • South Dakota
      • Haakon County
      • This Grindstone is located in Haakon County and lies 1,165 miles [1,874.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Grindstone that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Haakon County community of Grindstone.
    • Texas
      • Freestone County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Grindstone [Freestone County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Grindstone ...

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.

  • California
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Century
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Century is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Century
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Coal Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Curfew
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Curfew is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curfew
  • Daisytown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Dearth
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Dearth is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearth
  • Filbert
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Filbert is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filbert
  • Flatwoods
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Helen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Helen is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen
  • Herbert
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Herbert is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
  • Lower Peanut
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lower Peanut is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Peanut
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Redstone
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Republic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Republic is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Republic
    • Rocks Works
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rocks Works is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocks Works
    • Sea Right
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Sea Right is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Right
    • Searights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Searights is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searights
    • Smallwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Smallwood is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smallwood
    • Smock
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Star Junction
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Superior
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Superior is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior
    • Tuckertown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Tuckertown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckertown
    • Upper Peanut
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Upper Peanut is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Peanut
    • Wood Run
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wood Run is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Run

How Far From Grindstone to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Grindstone to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Grindstone to Uniontown, with an average speed<4> 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 156 miles [251.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 167 miles [268.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,965 miles [9,599.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,682 miles [10,753.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,557 miles [7,333.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Grindstone) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Grindstone 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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Grindstone 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 Grindstone. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0174, Longitude: -79.8315    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.507 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.448 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.505 degrees.