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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Penn Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Penn Ridge 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 Penn Ridge:
    • 40.463679, -79.812548
    • 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 Penn Ridge
  • 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 Allegheny County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
    • Since Penn Ridge is near Westmoreland County and also Butler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Butler 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 Penn Ridge

Curious and Interesting Names Near Penn Ridge ...

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.

  • Center
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Center is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center
  • Crescent Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Garden City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden City is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Leak Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Leak Run is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leak Run
  • Leechburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Leechburg is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leechburg
  • Lincoln Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Milltown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Milltown is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
  • Nadine
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Nadine is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nadine
  • New Texas
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • New Texas is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Texas
  • Peter Mans Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Peter Mans Corner is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peter Mans Corner
  • Point Breeze
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Point Breeze is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Breeze
  • Regency Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Regency Park is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency Park
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Rosedale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rosedale is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
    • Sandy Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandy Creek is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Creek
    • Shadow Shuttle
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Shadow Shuttle is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Shuttle
    • Unity
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Unity is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
    • Unity Junction
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Unity Junction is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity Junction
    • Universal
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Universal is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Universal

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Penn Ridge and extending to:

  • Pittsburgh, which is the Seat of Allegheny County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Penn Ridge to Pittsburgh, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 154 miles [247.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 182 miles [292.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,945 miles [9,567.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,663 miles [10,723.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,538 miles [7,303.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Penn Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Penn Ridge 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 Penn Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4637, Longitude: -79.8125       In this case, the coordinates for Penn Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.472 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.477 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.333 degrees.