Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Niles, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Niles and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Niles
- 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 Niles:
- 41.397835, -79.914779
- 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 Niles
- 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 Venango County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Venango County
- Since Niles is near Mercer County and also Crawford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- eBird sighting report for Crawford 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 Niles ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Niles.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Niles is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Boone 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 Iowa community of Niles [Boone County].
- Floyd County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Niles [Floyd County].
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Berrien County
- This Niles is located in Berrien County and lies 328 miles [527.9 km]<1> to the west of the Niles that is located in Venango County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berrien County community of Niles.
- Oakland 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 Michigan community of Niles [Oakland County].
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Gallia County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Gallia County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gallia County community of Niles.
- Trumbull County
- This Niles is located in Trumbull County and lies 45 miles [72.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Niles that is located in Venango County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trumbull County community of Niles.
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Harris 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 Texas community of Niles [Harris County].
- Lee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Niles [Lee County].
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Niles ...
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.
- Bully Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bully Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bully Hill
- Bully Hill is located in Venango County
- Franklin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Venango County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,966 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <5>
- Galena Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galena Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena Hill
- Galena Hill is located in Venango County
- Gurney Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gurney Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurney Hill
- Gurney Hill is located in Venango County
- Mapledale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Pecan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Polk
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk
- Polk is located in Venango County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
- Rocky Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Grove
- Rocky Grove is located in Venango County
- Twin Churchs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Churchs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Churchs
- Twin Churchs is located in Venango County
- Uniontown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
How Far From Niles 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 Niles to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Niles and extending to:
- Franklin, which is the Seat of Venango County, lies just to the East.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 176 miles [283.2 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Niles to Harrisburg, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about 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 229 miles [368.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,908 miles [9,508 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,630 miles [10,670 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,505 miles [7,250.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Niles. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Venango County: www.co.venango.pa.us/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Niles) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Niles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3978, Longitude: -79.9148 In this case, the coordinates for Niles have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Niles 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> | 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 Niles, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Niles to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.483 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.632 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.032 degrees. |