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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rutherford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rutherford 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 Rutherford:
    • 40.268946, -76.768777
    • 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 Rutherford
  • 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 Dauphin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dauphin County
    • Since Rutherford is near York County and also Cumberland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cumberland 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 Rutherford

Communities Also Named Rutherford ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Rutherford.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Rutherford is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Russell County
      • This Rutherford is located in Russell County and lies 732 miles [1,178 km]<1> to the southwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Russell County community of Rutherford.
    • Arizona
      • Yavapai County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Yavapai County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yavapai County community of Rutherford.
    • Arkansas
      • Independence County
      • This Rutherford is located in Independence County and lies 861 miles [1,385.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Independence County community of Rutherford.
    • California
      • Napa County
      • This Rutherford is located in Napa County and lies 2,413 miles [3,883.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Napa County community of Rutherford.
    • Delaware
      • New Castle County
      • This Rutherford is located in New Castle County and lies 70 miles [112.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of Rutherford.
    • Georgia
      • Oconee County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Rutherford [Oconee County].
    • Illinois
      • Champaign County
      • This Rutherford is located in Champaign County and lies 595 miles [957.6 km]<1> to the west of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Champaign County community of Rutherford.
    • Kentucky
      • Harlan County
      • This Rutherford is located in Harlan County and lies 411 miles [661.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harlan County community of Rutherford.
    • Mississippi
      • Attala County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Rutherford [Attala County].
    • New Jersey
      • Bergen County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Rutherford [Bergen County].
    • Ontario
      • This Rutherford lies 322 miles [518.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
    • Tennessee
      • Gibson County
      • This Rutherford is located in Gibson County and lies 721 miles [1,160.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gibson County community of Rutherford.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This Rutherford is located in Fairfax County and lies 102 miles [164.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Rutherford.
      • Rockingham County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Rutherford [Rockingham County].
    • West Virginia
      • Ritchie County
      • This Rutherford is located in Ritchie County and lies 246 miles [395.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rutherford that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ritchie County community of Rutherford.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rutherford ...

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.

  • Chartwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Chartwood is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartwood
  • Chestnut Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Ebenezer
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Ebenezer is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
  • English Manor
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • English Manor is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Manor
  • High Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • High Ridge is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Ridge
  • Hillymeade
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillymeade is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillymeade
  • Hummelstown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Kent Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Kent Gardens is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
  • Lakeview Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Lakeview Heights is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Heights
  • Locust Lane Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Locust Lane Gardens is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lane Gardens
  • Pleasant View
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Pleasant View is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Poplar Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Poplar Gardens is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Gardens
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Progress
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Progress is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progress
    • Ridgeview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ridgeview is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
    • Spring Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Spring Valley is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Twin Lakes
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Twin Lakes is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Twin Lakes Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Twin Lakes Park is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes Park

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

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

  • Harrisburg, which is the Seat of Dauphin County, lies just to the West.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies just to the west (W).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 95 miles [152.9 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Rutherford to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,828 miles [9,379.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,538 miles [10,521.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,414 miles [7,103.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rutherford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Rutherford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Rutherford 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.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Rutherford 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 Rutherford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2689, Longitude: -76.7688       In this case, the coordinates for Rutherford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.633 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.361 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.057 degrees.