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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McKnightstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McKnightstown 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 McKnightstown:
    • 39.870650, -77.325541
    • 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 McKnightstown
  • 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 Adams County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Since McKnightstown is near Franklin County and also Frederick County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick 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 McKnightstown

Curious and Interesting Names Near McKnightstown ...

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.

  • Black Horse Tavern
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Black Horse Tavern is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Horse Tavern
  • Cashtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cashtown is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashtown
  • Goldenville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Goldenville is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldenville
  • Hammer Hall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hammer Hall is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammer Hall
  • Hilltown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilltown is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltown
  • Marshall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Marshall is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Seven Stars
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Seven Stars is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
  • Table Rock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Table Rock is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Rock
  • Tartown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tartown is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tartown
  • Trust
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Trust is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trust
  • Virginia Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Virginia Mills is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Mills

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

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

  • Gettysburg, which is the Seat of Adams County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from McKnightstown to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 68 miles [109.4 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,868 miles [9,443.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,578 miles [10,586.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,454 miles [7,168 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- McKnightstown) 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 McKnightstown 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 McKnightstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8706, Longitude: -77.3255       In this case, the coordinates for McKnightstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.997 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.711 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.459 degrees.