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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Palo Alto, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Palo Alto 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 Palo Alto:
    • 39.763696, -78.750018
    • 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 Palo Alto
  • 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 Bedford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford County
    • Since Palo Alto is near Somerset County and also Allegany County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Somerset County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegany 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 Palo Alto

Communities Also Named Palo Alto ...

We found ten communities that are also named Palo Alto.

There is one other community in Pennsylvania that is also named Palo Alto.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Schuylkill County
      • This Palo Alto is located in Schuylkill County and lies 150 miles [241.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Palo Alto that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schuylkill County community of Palo Alto.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Clara County
      • This Palo Alto is located in Santa Clara County and lies 2,324 miles [3,740.1 km]<1> to the west of the Palo Alto that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of Palo Alto.
    • Illinois
      • Hamilton 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 Illinois community of Palo Alto [Hamilton County].
    • Kansas
      • Neosho 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 Kansas community of Palo Alto [Neosho County].
    • Louisiana
      • Ascension Parish
      • This Palo Alto is located in Ascension Parish and lies 962 miles [1,548.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Palo Alto that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ascension Parish community of Palo Alto.
    • Mississippi
      • Clay County
      • This Palo Alto is located in Clay County and lies 696 miles [1,120.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Palo Alto that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Palo Alto.
    • North Carolina
      • Onslow 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 North Carolina community of Palo Alto [Onslow County].
    • Ohio
      • Seneca County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Seneca County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Seneca County community of Palo Alto.
    • Texas
      • Nueces County
      • This Palo Alto is located in Nueces County and lies 1,371 miles [2,206.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Palo Alto that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nueces County community of Palo Alto.
    • Virginia
      • Highland County
      • This Palo Alto is located in Highland County and lies 98 miles [157.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Palo Alto that is located in Bedford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Highland County community of Palo Alto.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Palo Alto ...

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
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Centerville is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Cooks Mills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
  • Dickens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dickens is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
  • Fossilville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Fossilville is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossilville
  • Georges Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Georges Creek is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georges Creek
  • Homewood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Homewood is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Lap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lap is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lap
  • Locust Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Locust Grove is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
  • Lucas Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lucas Heights is located in Allegany County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas Heights
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mount Savage Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Mount Savage Junction is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Savage Junction
    • Narrows Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Narrows Park is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows Park
    • Pleasant Grove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
    • Pleasant Union
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Pleasant Union is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Union
    • Stringtown
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Stringtown is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Yonkers
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Yonkers is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yonkers

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

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

  • Bedford, which is the Seat of Bedford County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Palo Alto to Bedford, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 105 miles [169 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 109 miles [175.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,932 miles [9,546.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,645 miles [10,694.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,520 miles [7,274.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Palo Alto) 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 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 Palo Alto 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 Palo Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Palo Alto 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 Palo Alto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7637, Longitude: -78.7500       In this case, the coordinates for Palo Alto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.861 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.676 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.121 degrees.