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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Polktown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Polktown 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 Polktown:
    • 39.759816, -77.630548
    • 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 Polktown
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Polktown is near Washington County and also Adams County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams 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 Polktown

Communities Also Named Polktown ...

We found one communities that are also named Polktown.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Polktown is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Polktown in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Jersey
      • Hunterdon County
      • This Polktown is located in Hunterdon County and lies 154 miles [247.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Polktown that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunterdon County community of Polktown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Polktown ...

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.

  • Beartown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Beartown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
  • Clay Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Clay Hill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Hill
  • Clearview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Clearview is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
  • Five Forks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Five Forks is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Fox Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fox Hill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Greencastle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hunter Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunter Hill is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Hill
  • Jugtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jugtown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jugtown
  • Long Meadow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Long Meadow is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Meadow
  • Paramount
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Paramount is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
  • Roadside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Roadside is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roadside
  • Rocky Forge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rocky Forge is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Forge
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Shady Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Shady Grove is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Slabtown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Slabtown is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
    • Spring Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Washington County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Tomstown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Tomstown is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomstown

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

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

  • Chambersburg, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Polktown to Chambersburg, 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 53 miles [85.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 67 miles [107.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,886 miles [9,472.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,596 miles [10,615.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,472 miles [7,197 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Polktown) 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 Polktown 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 Polktown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7598, Longitude: -77.6305       In this case, the coordinates for Polktown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.187 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.91 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.634 degrees.