Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McMurray, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McMurray and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McMurray
- 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 McMurray:
- 40.277848, -80.083943
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on McMurray
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since McMurray is near Allegheny County and also Westmoreland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
- eBird sighting report for Westmoreland 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named McMurray ...
We found two communities that share the name McMurray.
Within Pennsylvania, the name McMurray is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near McMurray ...
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.
- Bishop
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Cecil
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cecil have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
- Cecil is located in Washington County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cecil <4>
- Cokeburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Cool Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cool Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Valley
- Cool Valley is located in Washington County
- Curry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Experiment
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Experiment have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Experiment
- Experiment is located in Allegheny County
- Gambles
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Gill Hall
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Hill Church
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill Church have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Church
- Hill Church is located in Washington County
- Hillcrest
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Jewell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Library
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Library have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Library
- Library is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Library <4>
- Continue List (10 more) ...
- Library Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Library Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Library Junction
- Library Junction is located in Washington County
- Longview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Muse
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Muse Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Muse Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muse Junction
- Muse Junction is located in Washington County
- National Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for National Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National Hill
- National Hill is located in Allegheny County
- Pierce
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Piney Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piney Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Fork
- Piney Fork is located in Allegheny County
- Presto
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Presto have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Presto
- Presto is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Presto <4>
- Turkeyfoot
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkeyfoot have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeyfoot
- Turkeyfoot is located in Washington County
- Weavertown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weavertown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weavertown
- Weavertown is located in Washington County
- Library Junction
How Far From McMurray 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 McMurray to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McMurray and extending to:
- Washington, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from McMurray to Washington, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 168 miles [270.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,964 miles [9,598.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,682 miles [10,753.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,557 miles [7,333.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for McMurray. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Washington County: www.co.washington.pa.us/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 McMurray 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McMurray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McMurray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2778, Longitude: -80.0839 In this case, the coordinates for McMurray have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 McMurray to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.649 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.649 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.523 degrees. |