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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old Forge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Forge 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 Old Forge:
    • 39.794538, -77.484156
    • 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 Old Forge
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Old Forge is near Adams County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Old Forge

Communities Also Named Old Forge ...

We found four communities that are also named Old Forge.

There are three communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Old Forge.

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

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Delaware 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 Pennsylvania community of Old Forge [Delaware County].
    • Lackawanna County
      • This Old Forge is located in Lackawanna County and lies 142 miles [228.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Old Forge that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lackawanna County community of Old Forge.
    • Luzerne 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 Pennsylvania community of Old Forge [Luzerne County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Herkimer County
      • This Old Forge is located in Herkimer County and lies 299 miles [481.2 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Old Forge that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Herkimer County community of Old Forge.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Forge ...

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.

  • Beartown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Beartown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
  • Cascade
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cascade is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Fountain Dale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Fountain Dale is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Dale
  • Fox Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Fox Hill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Gladhill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gladhill is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladhill
  • Highfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Highfield is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield
  • Highfield - Cascade
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Highfield - Cascade is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield - Cascade
  • Iron Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Iron Springs is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Springs
  • Jacks Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jacks Mountain is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Mountain
  • Maria Furnace
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Maria Furnace is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maria Furnace
  • Marshall
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Marshall is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Mount Hope
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mount Hope is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Roadside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Roadside is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roadside
    • Slabtown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Slabtown is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
    • Tartown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Tartown is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tartown
    • Tomstown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Tomstown is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomstown
    • Virginia Mills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Virginia Mills is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Mills

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

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

  • Chambersburg, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Old Forge to Chambersburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 46 miles [74 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 66 miles [106.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,878 miles [9,459.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,588 miles [10,602.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,464 miles [7,184.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Old Forge 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- Old Forge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Old Forge 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 Old Forge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7945, Longitude: -77.4842       In this case, the coordinates for Old Forge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.097 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.813 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.557 degrees.