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










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Pennsylvania

The Commemorative Quarter for Pennsylvania





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Northampton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Northampton 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 Northampton:
    • 40.685567, -75.496145
    • 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 Northampton
  • 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 Northampton ...

We found ten communities that share the name Northampton.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Northampton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Peoria County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Northampton [Peoria County].
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Northampton is located in Baltimore County and lies 104 miles [167.4 km]<2> to the southwest of the Northampton that is located in Northampton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Northampton.
      • Harford County
      • This Northampton is located in Harford County and lies 87 miles [140 km] to the southwest of the Northampton that is located in Northampton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Northampton.
      • Prince George's County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maryland community of Northampton [Prince George's County].
    • Massachusetts
      • Hampshire County
      • This Northampton is located in Hampshire County and lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<2> to the northeast of the Northampton that is located in Northampton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampshire County community of Northampton.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Northampton lies 544 miles [875.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Northampton that is located in Northampton County.
    • New Jersey
      • Burlington County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Northampton [Burlington County].
    • New York
      • Fulton County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Northampton [Fulton County].
      • Suffolk County
      • This Northampton is located in Suffolk County and lies 147 miles [236.6 km]<2> to the east of the Northampton that is located in Northampton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk County community of Northampton.
    • Virginia
      • Hampton City
      • This Northampton is located in Hampton City and lies 256 miles [412 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Northampton that is located in Northampton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampton City community of Northampton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Northampton ...

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.

  • Beersville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beersville
    • Beersville is located in Northampton County
  • Coffeetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coffeetown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffeetown
    • Coffeetown is located in Lehigh County
  • Egypt
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Egypt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
    • Egypt is located in Lehigh County
  • Evergreen Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Park
    • Evergreen Park is located in Lehigh County
  • Franks Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Hawktown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawktown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawktown
    • Hawktown is located in Lehigh County
  • Home Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Home Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Park
    • Home Park is located in Lehigh County
  • Juniper Circle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Juniper Circle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Circle
    • Juniper Circle is located in Lehigh County
  • Mechanicsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
    • Mechanicsville is located in Lehigh County
  • Petersville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
    • Petersville is located in Northampton County
  • Rockdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rockdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
    • Rockdale is located in Lehigh County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Rockdale
    • From Northampton to Rockdale
  • Seemsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seemsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seemsville
    • Seemsville is located in Northampton County
  • Weaversville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Easton, which is the Seat of Northampton County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Northampton to Easton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 77 miles [123.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 148 miles [238.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,758 miles [9,266.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,467 miles [10,407.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,343 miles [6,989.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Northampton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Northampton County: www.northamptoncounty.org/

The official website for Commonwealth 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 Northampton 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- Northampton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Northampton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6856, Longitude: -75.4961    
<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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Northampton 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 306.834 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.522 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.326 degrees.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025