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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Manatawny, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Manatawny 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 Manatawny:
    • 40.384065, -75.732606
    • 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 Manatawny
  • 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 Berks County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berks County
    • Since Manatawny is near Montgomery County and also Lehigh County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lehigh 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 Manatawny

Curious and Interesting Names Near Manatawny ...

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.

  • Amityville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Amityville is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amityville
  • Basket
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Basket is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basket
  • Beavers Mill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Beavers Mill is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavers Mill
  • Earlville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Earlville is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlville
  • Forest Court
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Forest Court is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Court
  • Indian Springs Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Limekiln
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • New Jerusalem
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • New Jerusalem is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Jerusalem
  • Orchard Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Orchard Hills is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
  • Overlook Woods
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Overlook Woods is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overlook Woods
  • Pikeville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Pine Waters
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Waters is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Waters
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pricetown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pricetown is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pricetown
    • Stony Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Stony Point is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
    • Weavertown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Weavertown is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weavertown
    • Woodchoppertown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Woodchoppertown is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodchoppertown
    • Woods Edge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Woods Edge is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Edge
    • Yellow House
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Manatawny and extending to:

  • Reading, which is the Seat of Berks County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Manatawny to Reading, with an average speed<2> 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 60 miles [96.6 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 123 miles [197.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,780 miles [9,302 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,488 miles [10,441.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,364 miles [7,023.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Manatawny) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Manatawny 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 Manatawny. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3841, Longitude: -75.7326    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.003 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.665 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.557 degrees.