RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Westmoreland County >> Iron Bridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Iron Bridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Iron Bridge 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 Iron Bridge:
    • 40.116461, -79.551150
    • 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 Iron Bridge
  • 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 Westmoreland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Since Iron Bridge is near Fayette County and also Allegheny County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny 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 Iron Bridge

Communities Also Named Iron Bridge ...

We found eight communities that are also named Iron Bridge.

There is one other community in Pennsylvania that is also named Iron Bridge.

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

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Armstrong 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 Iron Bridge [Armstrong County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cullman 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 Alabama community of Iron Bridge [Cullman County].
    • Kentucky
      • Warren 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 Kentucky community of Iron Bridge [Warren County].
    • Michigan
      • Baraga 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 Michigan community of Iron Bridge [Baraga County].
    • Ohio
      • Summit County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Iron Bridge [Summit County].
    • Ontario
      • This Iron Bridge lies 463 miles [745.1 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Iron Bridge that is located in Westmoreland County.
    • Texas
      • Gregg County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Gregg County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gregg County community of Iron Bridge.
    • West Virginia
      • Monongalia 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 West Virginia community of Iron Bridge [Monongalia County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Iron Bridge ...

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.

  • Alice
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Alice is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
  • Buckeye
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Buckeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Hawkeye
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
  • Kingview
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Kingview is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingview
  • Morewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Morewood is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morewood
  • Mount Joy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Joy is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
  • Mount Pleasant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Orchard Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Orchard Hill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hill
  • Pinetree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Pinetree is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinetree
  • Ridge View
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ridge View is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge View
  • Standard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Standard is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard
  • Standard Shaft
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Standard Shaft is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard Shaft
  • Walnut Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Walnut Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

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

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

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Iron Bridge to Greensburg, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 141 miles [226.9 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 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 158 miles [254.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,950 miles [9,575.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,666 miles [10,727.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,541 miles [7,308 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Iron Bridge 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>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 Iron Bridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Iron Bridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Iron Bridge 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 Iron Bridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1165, Longitude: -79.5512       In this case, the coordinates for Iron Bridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.33 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.262 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.344 degrees.