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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 Mainland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mainland and the surrounding area.
- 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 Mainland:
- 40.255938, -75.360175
- 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 Mainland
- 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
- Since Mainland is near Bucks County and also Indiana County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bucks County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Indiana 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 Mainland
Communities Also Named Mainland ...
We found two communities that are also named Mainland.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Mainland is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Volusia 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 Mainland [Volusia County].
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- This Mainland lies 979 miles [1,575.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Mainland that is located in Montgomery County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mainland ...
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.
- Bramble Gate
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Bramble Gate is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramble Gate
- Cedars
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Cowpath Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cowpath Village is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowpath Village
- Creamery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cross Gate
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Cross Gate is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Gate
- Gristmill Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Gristmill Run is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gristmill Run
- Harley Glen
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Harley Glen is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harley Glen
- Harleysville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Harmony Towne
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Harmony Towne is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Towne
- Helen Marie Court
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Helen Marie Court is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen Marie Court
- Hunter Crest
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Hunter Crest is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Crest
- Hunter Villa
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Hunter Villa is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Villa
- Continue List (8 more) ...
- Hunters Greene
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hunters Greene is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Greene
- Imperial Arms
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Imperial Arms is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial Arms
- Kingscote
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Kingscote is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingscote
- Reliance
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Reliance is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
- Shirks Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Shirks Corner is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirks Corner
- Sugarvalley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sugarvalley is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarvalley
- Summerwind
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Summerwind is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwind
- Yorkshire Commons
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Yorkshire Commons is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Commons
How Far From Mainland 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 Mainland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mainland and extending to:
- Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Mainland to Norristown, 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 80 miles [128.7 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 129 miles [207.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,770 miles [9,285.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,477 miles [10,423.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,353 miles [7,005.5 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 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 Mainland 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mainland) 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 Mainland 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 Mainland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2559, Longitude: -75.3602 In this case, the coordinates for Mainland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.793 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.406 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.45 degrees. |
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