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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shelltown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shelltown 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 Shelltown:
    • 40.456462, -78.206399
    • 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 Shelltown
  • 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 Blair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blair County
    • Since Shelltown is near Huntingdon County and also Cambria County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Huntingdon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cambria 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 Shelltown

Communities Also Named Shelltown ...

We found two communities that are also named Shelltown.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Shelltown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Diego County
      • This Shelltown is located in San Diego County and lies 2,204 miles [3,547 km]<1> to the west of the Shelltown that is located in Blair County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of Shelltown.
    • Maryland
      • Somerset County
      • This Shelltown is located in Somerset County and lies 219 miles [352.4 km]<1> to the southeast of the Shelltown that is located in Blair County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Shelltown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shelltown ...

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.

  • Beavertown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Beavertown is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavertown
  • Canoe Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Canoe Creek is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canoe Creek
  • Clappertown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Clappertown is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clappertown
  • Flowing Spring
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Flowing Spring is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowing Spring
  • Franklin Forge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Franklin Forge is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Forge
  • Greenwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenwood is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Hollidaysburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Loop
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Loop is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loop
  • Reservoir
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Reservoir is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reservoir
  • Sickles Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sickles Corner is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sickles Corner
  • Water Street
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Water Street is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Street
  • Yellow Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Yellow Spring is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Spring

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

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

  • Hollidaysburg, which is the Seat of Blair County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Shelltown to Hollidaysburg, 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 70 miles [112.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 124 miles [199.6 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 5,880 miles [9,462.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,594 miles [10,612 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,469 miles [7,192.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Shelltown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Shelltown 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 Shelltown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4565, Longitude: -78.2064       In this case, the coordinates for Shelltown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.489 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.36 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.617 degrees.