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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old Zionsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Zionsville 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 Zionsville:
    • 40.485769, -75.520828
    • 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 Zionsville
  • 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 Lehigh County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lehigh County
    • Since Old Zionsville is near Berks County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berks County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Zionsville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Zionsville ...

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.

  • Centerville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Centerville is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Chapel
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Chapel is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel
  • Chestnut Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Corning
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Corning is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
  • Dillingerville
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Harlem
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Harlem is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlem
  • Krassdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Krassdale is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krassdale
  • Limeport
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Maple Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Maple Grove is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
  • Minesite
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Minesite is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minesite
  • Overlook Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Overlook Springs is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overlook Springs
  • Palm
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Powder Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Zionsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Old Zionsville and extending to:

  • Allentown, which is the Seat of Lehigh County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 72 miles [115.9 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Old Zionsville 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 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 136 miles [218.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,767 miles [9,281.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,475 miles [10,420.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,351 miles [7,002.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Zionsville) 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 Zionsville 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 Zionsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4858, Longitude: -75.5208    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.867 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.528 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.422 degrees.