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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Raineytown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Raineytown 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 Raineytown:
    • 40.040352, -79.643928
    • 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 Raineytown
  • 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Since Raineytown is near Westmoreland County and also Washington 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 Washington 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 Raineytown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Raineytown ...

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.

  • Chaintown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Chaintown is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaintown
  • Coldbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Coldbrook is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook
  • Crossland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Crossland is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossland
  • Dry Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dry Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Hill
  • Elm Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Elm Grove is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Grove
  • Flatwoods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Flatwoods is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Graham Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Graham Crossing is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Crossing
  • Hulltown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hulltown is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulltown
  • Liberty
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Liberty is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Little Summit
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Little Summit is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Summit
  • Monarch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Monarch is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monarch
  • Nellie
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Nellie is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nellie
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Poplar Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Poplar Grove is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
    • Reservoir Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Reservoir Hill is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reservoir Hill
    • Rogerstown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Rogerstown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogerstown
    • Trotter
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Trotter is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotter

How Far From Raineytown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Raineytown to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Raineytown to Uniontown, 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 146 miles [235 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 159 miles [255.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,957 miles [9,586.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,673 miles [10,739.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,548 miles [7,319.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Raineytown) 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 Raineytown 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 Raineytown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0404, Longitude: -79.6439       In this case, the coordinates for Raineytown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.391 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.32 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.413 degrees.