RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Clearfield County >> Mount Joy >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mount Joy, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mount Joy 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 Mount Joy:
    • 41.052852, -78.436390
    • 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 Mount Joy
  • 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 Clearfield County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clearfield County
    • Since Mount Joy is near Elk County and also Centre County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Centre 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 Mount Joy

Communities Also Named Mount Joy ...

We found ten communities that are also named Mount Joy.

There are two communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Mount Joy.

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

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Lancaster County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Lancaster County and lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Mount Joy.
    • Westmoreland County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Westmoreland County and lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Mount Joy.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Delaware
      • Sussex County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Sussex County and lies 235 miles [378.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sussex County community of Mount Joy.
    • Iowa
      • Scott County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Scott County and lies 629 miles [1,012.3 km]<1> to the west of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Mount Joy.
    • New Jersey
      • Hunterdon County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Hunterdon County and lies 172 miles [276.8 km]<1> to the east of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunterdon County community of Mount Joy.
    • Ohio
      • Scioto County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Scioto County and lies 289 miles [465.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scioto County community of Mount Joy.
    • Ontario
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Mount Joy.
    • South Carolina
      • Union County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Mount Joy [Union County].
    • Tennessee
      • Maury County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Maury County and lies 611 miles [983.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maury County community of Mount Joy.
    • Texas
      • Delta County
      • This Mount Joy is located in Delta County and lies 1,076 miles [1,731.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Mount Joy that is located in Clearfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delta County community of Mount Joy.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mount Joy ...

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.

  • Eden
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Eden is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Egypt
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Egypt is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
  • Krebs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Krebs is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krebs
  • Leonard
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Leonard is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
  • Mineral Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mineral Springs is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
  • Mount Hope
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Mount Hope is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Needful
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Needful is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needful
  • Pine Top
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Top is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Top
  • Riverview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Riverview is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
  • Spring Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Spring Valley is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
  • Surveyor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Surveyor is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surveyor

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

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

  • Clearfield, which is the Seat of Clearfield County, lies just to the South.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 97 miles [156.1 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Mount Joy to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 166 miles [267.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,863 miles [9,435.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,581 miles [10,591.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,456 miles [7,171.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mount Joy) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Mount Joy 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.
<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 Mount Joy 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 Mount Joy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0529, Longitude: -78.4364       In this case, the coordinates for Mount Joy have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.59 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.566 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.487 degrees.