RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Westmoreland County >> Rankins Corners >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rankins Corners, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rankins Corners 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 Rankins Corners:
    • 40.169238, -79.813101
    • 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 Rankins Corners
  • 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 Westmoreland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Since Rankins Corners is near Washington County and also Fayette 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 Fayette 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 Rankins Corners

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rankins Corners ...

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.

  • Black Diamond
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Black Diamond is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
  • Eureka
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Eureka is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Fisher
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Fisher is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
  • Grandview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Grandview is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Jacobs Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jacobs Creek is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs Creek
  • Lockview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Lockview is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockview
  • Mustard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Mustard is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mustard
  • Naomi
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Naomi is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
  • Pricedale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pricedale is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pricedale
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Reduction
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Reduction is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reduction
    • Riverview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Riverview is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Sunny Side
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
    • Turkeytown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Turkeytown is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
    • Twilight
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Twilight is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Victory Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Victory Hills is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory Hills

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

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

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rankins Corners to Greensburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six 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 171 miles [275.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,958 miles [9,588.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,675 miles [10,742.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,550 miles [7,322.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Rankins Corners) 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 Rankins Corners 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 Rankins Corners. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1692, Longitude: -79.8131       In this case, the coordinates for Rankins Corners have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.488 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.45 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.441 degrees.