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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sharpsburg, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sharpsburg 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 Sharpsburg:
    • 40.520351, -77.834441
    • 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 Sharpsburg
  • 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 Huntingdon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Huntingdon County
    • Since Sharpsburg is near Mifflin County and also Juniata County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mifflin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Juniata 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 Sharpsburg

Communities Also Named Sharpsburg ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Sharpsburg.

There is one other community in Pennsylvania that is also named Sharpsburg.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Allegheny County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Allegheny County and lies 109 miles [175.4 km]<1> to the west of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Sharpsburg.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Coweta County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Coweta County and lies 621 miles [999.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coweta County community of Sharpsburg.
    • Illinois
      • Christian County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Christian County and lies 611 miles [983.3 km]<1> to the west of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Christian County community of Sharpsburg.
    • Iowa
      • Taylor County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Taylor County and lies 879 miles [1,414.6 km]<1> to the west of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Taylor County community of Sharpsburg.
    • Kentucky
      • Bath County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Bath County and lies 362 miles [582.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bath County community of Sharpsburg.
    • Maryland
      • Washington County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Washington County and lies 73 miles [117.5 km]<1> to the south of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Sharpsburg.
    • Mississippi
      • Madison County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Madison County and lies 859 miles [1,382.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Sharpsburg.
    • Missouri
      • Marion County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Marion County and lies 737 miles [1,186.1 km]<1> to the west of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Sharpsburg.
    • North Carolina
      • Edgecombe County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Edgecombe County and lies 321 miles [516.6 km]<1> to the south of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Edgecombe County community of Sharpsburg.
    • Ohio
      • Athens County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Athens County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Sharpsburg.
      • Mercer County
      • This Sharpsburg is located in Mercer County and lies 361 miles [581 km] to the west of the Sharpsburg that is located in Huntingdon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Sharpsburg.
      • Morgan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Sharpsburg [Morgan County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sharpsburg ...

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.

  • Birdville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Birdville is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdville
  • Cold Spring
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Cold Spring is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Cottage
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cottage is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
  • Little Kansas
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Kansas is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Kansas
  • Lockport
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Lockport is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockport
  • Longfellow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Longfellow is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longfellow
  • Lucy Furnace
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Lucy Furnace is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucy Furnace
  • Manor Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Manor Hill is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Hill
  • Mechanicsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Rockville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Rockville is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
  • Union Mills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Mills is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Mills
  • Vineyard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Vineyard is located in Mifflin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard
  • Warrior Ridge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Warrior Ridge is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrior Ridge

How Far From Sharpsburg to ...

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

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

  • Huntingdon, which is the Seat of Huntingdon County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sharpsburg to Huntingdon, with an average speed<3> 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 52 miles [83.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 119 miles [191.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,862 miles [9,434 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,575 miles [10,581.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,451 miles [7,163.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Sharpsburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Sharpsburg 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.
<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 Sharpsburg 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 Sharpsburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5204, Longitude: -77.8344       In this case, the coordinates for Sharpsburg have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.259 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.109 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.426 degrees.