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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pickering, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pickering 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 Pickering:
    • 40.109453, -75.528316
    • 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 Pickering
  • 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 Chester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chester County
    • Since Pickering is near Montgomery County and also Erie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Erie 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 Pickering

Communities Also Named Pickering ...

We found eight communities that are also named Pickering.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Pickering is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Dallas 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 Alabama community of Pickering [Dallas County].
    • Arkansas
      • Union County
      • This Pickering is located in Union County and lies 1,064 miles [1,712.3 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Pickering that is located in Chester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Pickering.
    • Iowa
      • Marshall County
      • This Pickering is located in Marshall County and lies 907 miles [1,459.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Pickering that is located in Chester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Pickering.
    • Louisiana
      • Vernon Parish
      • This Pickering is located in Vernon Parish and lies 1,173 miles [1,887.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Pickering that is located in Chester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vernon Parish community of Pickering.
    • Mississippi
      • Covington 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 Mississippi community of Pickering [Covington County].
    • Missouri
      • Nodaway County
      • This Pickering is located in Nodaway County and lies 1,015 miles [1,633.5 km]<2> to the west of the Pickering that is located in Chester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nodaway County community of Pickering.
    • New Hampshire
      • Strafford County
      • This Pickering is located in Strafford County and lies 320 miles [515 km]<2> to the northeast of the Pickering that is located in Chester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Strafford County community of Pickering.
    • Ontario
      • This Pickering lies 315 miles [506.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Pickering that is located in Chester County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pickering ...

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.

  • Bull Tavern
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Bull Tavern is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Tavern
  • Cedar Hollow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Hollow is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hollow
  • Corner Store
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Corner Store is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corner Store
  • Freedom View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Freedom View is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom View
  • Green Tree
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Tree is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Tree
  • Hallman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hallman is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallman
  • Hollow Run Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hollow Run Farms is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollow Run Farms
  • Ironsides
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ironsides is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironsides
  • Merlin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Merlin is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merlin
  • Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Powderhorn Knoll
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Powderhorn Knoll is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powderhorn Knoll
  • Providence View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Providence View is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence View
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Rivers Bend
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Rivers Bend is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivers Bend
    • Riverwalk
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Riverwalk is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwalk
    • Sunwood Farm
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Sunwood Farm is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunwood Farm
    • Williams Corner
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Winding River
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Winding River is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winding River

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

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

  • West Chester, which is the Seat of Chester County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Pickering to West Chester, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the west (W). 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 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 116 miles [186.7 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 5,783 miles [9,306.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,489 miles [10,443 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,366 miles [7,026.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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 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 Pickering 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pickering) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Pickering 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 Pickering. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1095, Longitude: -75.5283       In this case, the coordinates for Pickering have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.905 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.511 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.584 degrees.