RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Schuylkill County >> Laurel Junction >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laurel Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laurel Junction 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 Laurel Junction:
    • 40.840643, -76.057709
    • 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 Laurel Junction
  • 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 Schuylkill County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
    • Since Laurel Junction is near Carbon County and also Luzerne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carbon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Luzerne 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 Laurel Junction

Communities Also Named Laurel Junction ...

We found one communities that are also named Laurel Junction.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Laurel Junction is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Laurel Junction in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • West Virginia
      • Ritchie County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Laurel Junction [Ritchie County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laurel Junction ...

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.

  • Craigs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Craigs is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigs
  • Haddock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Haddock is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddock
  • Hills Terrace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hills Terrace is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Terrace
  • Hometown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hometown is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hometown
  • Locust Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Locust Valley is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Valley
  • Lofty
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lofty is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofty
  • Mary-D
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Pine Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pine Junction is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Junction
  • Shoemakers
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Shoemakers is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoemakers
  • Still Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Still Creek is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still Creek
  • Vulcan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Vulcan is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Laurel Junction and extending to:

  • Pottsville, which is the Seat of Schuylkill County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Laurel Junction to Pottsville, with an average speed<4> 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 57 miles [91.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 143 miles [230.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> 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).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,486 miles [10,438.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,361 miles [7,018.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Laurel Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Laurel Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Laurel Junction 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 Laurel Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8406, Longitude: -76.0577       In this case, the coordinates for Laurel Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.158 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.913 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.508 degrees.