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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hilltown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hilltown 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 Hilltown:
    • 39.893982, -77.358875
    • 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 Hilltown
  • 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 Adams County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Since Hilltown is near Franklin County and also Cumberland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cumberland 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 Hilltown

Communities Also Named Hilltown ...

We found nine communities that are also named Hilltown.

There are four communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Hilltown.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Bucks County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Hilltown [Bucks County].
    • Lawrence County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Hilltown [Lawrence County].
    • Lehigh County
      • This Hilltown is located in Lehigh County and lies 108 miles [173.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Hilltown that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lehigh County community of Hilltown.
    • Wayne County
      • This Hilltown is located in Wayne County and lies 172 miles [276.8 km]<2> to the northeast of the Hilltown that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Hilltown.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Indiana
      • Jennings County
      • This Hilltown is located in Jennings County and lies 449 miles [722.6 km]<2> to the west of the Hilltown that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jennings County community of Hilltown.
    • New Jersey
      • Morris County
      • This Hilltown is located in Morris County and lies 163 miles [262.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Hilltown that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morris County community of Hilltown.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Hilltown lies 660 miles [1,062.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Hilltown that is located in Adams County.
    • Ohio
      • Portage County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Hilltown [Portage County].
    • Virginia
      • Grayson County
      • This Hilltown is located in Grayson County and lies 293 miles [471.5 km]<2> to the southwest of the Hilltown that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grayson County community of Hilltown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hilltown ...

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.

  • Black Horse Tavern
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Black Horse Tavern is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Horse Tavern
  • Cashtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cashtown is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashtown
  • Floradale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Floradale is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floradale
  • Goldenville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Goldenville is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldenville
  • Guernsey
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Guernsey is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey
  • Hammer Hall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hammer Hall is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammer Hall
  • Marshall
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Marshall is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Mount Hope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Hope is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Seven Stars
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Seven Stars is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
  • Table Rock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Table Rock is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Rock
  • Tartown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tartown is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tartown
  • Trust
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Trust is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trust
  • Virginia Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Virginia Mills is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Mills

How Far From Hilltown to ...

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

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

  • Gettysburg, which is the Seat of Adams County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Hilltown to Harrisburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 70 miles [112.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,869 miles [9,445.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,579 miles [10,587.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,455 miles [7,169.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Hilltown 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hilltown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Hilltown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Hilltown 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 Hilltown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8940, Longitude: -77.3589       In this case, the coordinates for Hilltown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.015 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.735 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.464 degrees.