RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Pennsylvania >> Westmoreland County >> Shawtown >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Pennsylvania


The Commemorative Quarter for Pennsylvania







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shawtown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shawtown 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 Shawtown:
    • 40.334792, -79.705044
    • 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 Shawtown
  • 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 Shawtown ...

We found six communities that share the name Shawtown.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Shawtown is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Bibb County
      • This Shawtown is located in Bibb County and lies 645 miles [1,038 km]<1> to the southwest of the Shawtown that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bibb County community of Shawtown.
    • Delaware
      • New Castle 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 Delaware community of Shawtown [New Castle County].
    • North Carolina
      • Harnett County
      • This Shawtown is located in Harnett County and lies 345 miles [555.2 km]<1> to the south of the Shawtown that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harnett County community of Shawtown.
    • Ohio
      • Hancock County
      • This Shawtown is located in Hancock County and lies 224 miles [360.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Shawtown that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Shawtown.
      • Morrow County
      • This Shawtown is located in Morrow County and lies 171 miles [275.2 km] to the west of the Shawtown that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morrow County community of Shawtown.
    • Wisconsin
      • Eau Claire County
      • This Shawtown is located in Eau Claire County and lies 675 miles [1,086.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Shawtown that is located in Westmoreland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eau Claire County community of Shawtown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shawtown ...

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.

  • Cereal
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cereal have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cereal
    • Cereal is located in Westmoreland County
  • Circleville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Circleville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circleville
    • Circleville is located in Westmoreland County
  • Irwin
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
    • Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,716 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <4>
  • Jacktown
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacktown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacktown
    • Jacktown is located in Westmoreland County
  • Manor
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor
    • Manor is located in Westmoreland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manor <4>
  • Paintertown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paintertown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paintertown
    • Paintertown is located in Westmoreland County
  • Scab Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scab Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scab Hill
    • Scab Hill is located in Westmoreland County
  • Sunset Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Valley
    • Sunset Valley is located in Westmoreland County

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

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

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 148 miles [238.2 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Shawtown to Harrisburg, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 173 miles [278.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,946 miles [9,569.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,663 miles [10,723.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,539 miles [7,304.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shawtown. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Westmoreland County: www.co.westmoreland.pa.us/

The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

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- Shawtown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shawtown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3348, Longitude: -79.7050       In this case, the coordinates for Shawtown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Shawtown 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>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.
<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 Shawtown to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.413 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.39 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.332 degrees.









 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024