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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laurel Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laurel Park 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 Park:
    • 40.870633, -77.183033
    • 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 Park
  • 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Since Laurel Park is near Snyder County and also Centre County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Snyder County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Centre 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 Park

Communities Also Named Laurel Park ...

We found ten communities that are also named Laurel Park.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Laurel Park is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Escambia 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 Florida community of Laurel Park [Escambia County].
    • Massachusetts
      • Hampshire County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Hampshire County and lies 255 miles [410.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampshire County community of Laurel Park.
    • New Jersey
      • Middlesex County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Middlesex County and lies 152 miles [244.6 km]<2> to the east of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Laurel Park.
    • North Carolina
      • Henderson County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Henderson County and lies 480 miles [772.5 km]<2> to the southwest of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Laurel Park.
      • Watauga County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Watauga County and lies 407 miles [655 km] to the southwest of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Watauga County community of Laurel Park.
    • Rhode Island
      • Bristol County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Bristol County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bristol County community of Laurel Park.
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Charleston County and lies 581 miles [935 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charleston County community of Laurel Park.
    • Tennessee
      • Putnam County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Putnam County and lies 552 miles [888.4 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Laurel Park.
    • Virginia
      • Henrico County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Henrico County and lies 223 miles [358.9 km]<2> to the south of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henrico County community of Laurel Park.
      • Henry County
      • This Laurel Park is located in Henry County and lies 321 miles [516.6 km] to the south southwest of the Laurel Park that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Laurel Park.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laurel Park ...

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.

  • Beaver Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Beaver Springs is located in Snyder County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Springs
  • Beavertown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Cherry Run
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Cherry Run is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Run
  • Coon Hunter
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Coon Hunter is located in Snyder County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Hunter
  • Dice
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Dice is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dice
  • Glen Iron
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Glen Iron is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Iron
  • Johnstown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Johnstown is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
  • Kissimmee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Kissimmee is located in Snyder County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kissimmee
  • Middle Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Middle Creek is located in Snyder County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
  • Pardee
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Pardee is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardee
  • Pleasant Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Red Bank
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Red Bank is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
  • Shakespeare Club
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Shakespeare Club is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shakespeare Club
  • Wildwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Wildwood is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood

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

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

  • Lewisburg, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Laurel Park to Lewisburg, with an average speed<4> 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 five to six hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 43 miles [69.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 136 miles [218.9 km] to the south (S). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,820 miles [9,366.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,534 miles [10,515.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,409 miles [7,095.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Laurel Park 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Laurel Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Laurel Park 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 Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8706, Longitude: -77.1830       In this case, the coordinates for Laurel Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.837 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.686 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.996 degrees.