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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McCracken, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McCracken 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 McCracken:
    • 40.070072, -80.238117
    • 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 McCracken
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since McCracken is near Greene County and also Fayette County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette 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 McCracken

Communities Also Named McCracken ...

We found five communities that are also named McCracken.

There is one other community in Pennsylvania that is also named McCracken.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Greene County
      • This McCracken is located in Greene County and lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the McCracken that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of McCracken.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Mohave County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Mohave County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mohave County community of McCracken.
    • British Columbia
      • This McCracken lies 2,043 miles [3,287.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the McCracken that is located in Washington County.
    • Kansas
      • Rush County
      • This McCracken is located in Rush County and lies 1,035 miles [1,665.7 km]<1> to the west of the McCracken that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rush County community of McCracken.
    • Missouri
      • Christian County
      • This McCracken is located in Christian County and lies 728 miles [1,171.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the McCracken that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Christian County community of McCracken.

Curious and Interesting Names Near McCracken ...

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.

  • Deer Lick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Deer Lick is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Lick
  • Gabby Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Gabby Heights is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gabby Heights
  • Gale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Gale is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gale
  • Green Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Hills is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
  • Laboratory
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Laboratory is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laboratory
  • Lincoln Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Hill
  • Lone Pine
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lone Pine is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
  • Long Pine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Pine is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Pine
  • Mount Pleasant
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Pleasant Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Plumbsock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Plumbsock is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumbsock
  • Point Lookout
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Point Lookout is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Lookout
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Prosperity
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Prosperity is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
    • Ringlands
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Ringlands is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringlands
    • Sugar Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sugar Hill is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill
    • Ten Mile
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ten Mile is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Mile

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

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

  • Washington, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the North.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 177 miles [284.9 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from McCracken to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 188 miles [302.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,980 miles [9,623.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,697 miles [10,777.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,572 miles [7,357.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McCracken) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 McCracken, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>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 McCracken 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 McCracken. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0701, Longitude: -80.2381       In this case, the coordinates for McCracken have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.754 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.737 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.667 degrees.