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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McConnellstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McConnellstown 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 McConnellstown:
    • 40.452933, -78.082005
    • 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 McConnellstown
  • 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 Huntingdon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Huntingdon County
    • Since McConnellstown is near Blair County and also Mifflin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blair County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mifflin 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 McConnellstown

Curious and Interesting Names Near McConnellstown ...

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.

  • Beavertown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Beavertown is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavertown
  • Birdville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Canoe Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Canoe Creek is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canoe Creek
  • Clappertown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Clappertown is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clappertown
  • Cold Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cold Spring is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Flowing Spring
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Franklin Forge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Page ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Page is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page
  • Paradise Furnace
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Paradise Furnace is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Furnace
  • Shelltown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Shelltown is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelltown
  • Warrior Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Warrior Ridge is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrior Ridge
  • Water Street
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Yellow Spring
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Yellow Spring is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Spring

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

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

  • Huntingdon, which is the Seat of Huntingdon County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 64 miles [103 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from McConnellstown to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 120 miles [193.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, 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 5,875 miles [9,454.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,589 miles [10,604 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,464 miles [7,184.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- McConnellstown) 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 McConnellstown 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 McConnellstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4529, Longitude: -78.0820    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.414 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.274 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.563 degrees.