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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mercur, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mercur and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Mercur:
    • 41.802575, -76.327714
    • 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 Mercur
  • 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 Bradford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bradford County
    • Since Mercur is near Susquehanna County and also Wyoming County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Susquehanna County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming 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 Mercur

Communities Also Named Mercur ...

We found one communities that are also named Mercur.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Mercur is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Mercur in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Utah
      • Tooele County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Mercur [Tooele County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mercur ...

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.

  • Asylum
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Asylum is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asylum
  • Brushville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Brushville is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushville
  • Bumpville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bumpville is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bumpville
  • Cherrytown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cherrytown is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrytown
  • Hornbrook
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hornbrook is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornbrook
  • Limehill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Limehill is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limehill
  • Merryall
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Merryall is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merryall
  • Potterville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Potterville is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potterville
  • Quarry Glen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Quarry Glen is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarry Glen
  • Standing Stone
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Standing Stone is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standing Stone
  • Stevensville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Towner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Towner is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towner
  • Zion Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Zion Heights is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Heights

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Mercur and extending to:

  • Towanda, which is the Seat of Bradford County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 108 miles [173.8 km]<3> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Mercur to Harrisburg, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 204 miles [328.3 km] to the south (S). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,746 miles [9,247.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,461 miles [10,398 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,336 miles [6,978.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Mercur, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Mercur) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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.
<5>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 Mercur 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 Mercur. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8026, Longitude: -76.3277       In this case, the coordinates for Mercur have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.234 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.151 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.22 degrees.