Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shaft, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shaft and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shaft
- 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 Shaft:
- 39.903970, -78.935302
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Shaft
- 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 Somerset County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Somerset County
- Since Shaft is near Bedford County and also Garrett County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bedford County
- eBird sighting report for Garrett 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Shaft ...
We found one communities that share the name Shaft.
There is one other community in Pennsylvania which is also named Shaft.
Beyond Pennsylvania.
- Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shaft ...
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.
- Berlin
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berlin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
- Berlin is located in Somerset County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,931 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berlin <3>
- Glen Savage
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Savage have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Savage
- Glen Savage is located in Somerset County
- Goodtown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Hays Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Mill
- Hays Mill is located in Somerset County
- Johnsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsburg
- Johnsburg is located in Somerset County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnsburg <3>
- Keystone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Mineral Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Spring
- Mineral Spring is located in Somerset County
- Salisbury Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Junction
- Salisbury Junction is located in Somerset County
- Sand Patch
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Patch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Patch
- Sand Patch is located in Somerset County
- Shanksville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shanksville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanksville
- Shanksville is located in Somerset County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shanksville <3>
- Slabtown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
How Far From Shaft 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 Shaft to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Shaft and extending to:
- Somerset, which is the Seat of Somerset County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<5> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shaft to Somerset, with an average speed<6> 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 111 miles [178.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 122 miles [196.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,934 miles [9,549.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,647 miles [10,697.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,523 miles [7,279.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shaft. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Somerset County: www.co.somerset.pa.us/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Shaft 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. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Shaft) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shaft. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9040, Longitude: -78.9353 In this case, the coordinates for Shaft have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Shaft to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.966 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.816 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.15 degrees. |