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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Plank, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plank and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Plank:
    • 41.571183, -77.246087
    • 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 Plank
  • 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 Tioga County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tioga County
    • Since Plank is near Lycoming County and also Bradford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lycoming County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bradford 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 Plank

Communities Also Named Plank ...

We found two communities that are also named Plank.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Plank is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Clay County
      • This Plank is located in Clay County and lies 461 miles [741.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Plank that is located in Tioga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Plank.
    • Texas
      • Hardin County
      • Although located in Hardin County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardin County community of Plank.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Plank ...

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.

  • Buttonwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Buttonwood is located in Lycoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttonwood
  • Cedar Run
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • English Center
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • English Center is located in Lycoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Center
  • Hartsfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hartsfield is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsfield
  • House Landing Strip
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • House Landing Strip is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for House Landing Strip
  • Liberty
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Liberty is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
  • Maple Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Maple Hill is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
  • Mount Pleasant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Roundtop
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Roundtop is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roundtop
  • Steam Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Steam Valley is located in Lycoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steam Valley
  • Stony Fork
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Stony Fork is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Fork
  • Texas
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Texas is located in Lycoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas
  • Three Springs Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Three Springs Run is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Springs Run

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

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

  • Wellsboro, which is the Seat of Tioga County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Plank to Wellsboro, with an average speed<3> 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 90 miles [144.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 184 miles [296.1 km] to the south (S). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,793 miles [9,322.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,509 miles [10,475.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,385 miles [7,057 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Plank) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Plank 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 Plank. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5712, Longitude: -77.2461       In this case, the coordinates for Plank have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.818 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.775 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.737 degrees.