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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shelvey, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shelvey and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Shelvey:
    • 41.369783, -78.650025
    • 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 Shelvey
  • 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 Elk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elk County
    • Since Shelvey is near Jefferson County and also Clearfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clearfield 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 Shelvey

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shelvey ...

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.

  • Boot Jack
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Boot Jack is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boot Jack
  • Brandy Camp
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Brandy Camp is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy Camp
  • Cartwright
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cartwright is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartwright
  • Challenge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Challenge is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenge
  • Coal Hollow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Coal Hollow is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Hollow
  • Earlyville
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Earlyville is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlyville
  • Five Points
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Five Points is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Four Points
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Four Points is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Points
  • Grandview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Grandview is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Helen Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Helen Mills is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen Mills
  • Lynchville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lynchville is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchville
  • Squab Hollow
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Squab Hollow is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squab Hollow
  • Whistletown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Whistletown is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistletown

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Shelvey and extending to:

  • Ridgway, which is the Seat of Elk County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 119 miles [191.5 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Shelvey to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 190 miles [305.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,858 miles [9,427.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,577 miles [10,584.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,453 miles [7,166.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Shelvey) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Shelvey 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 Shelvey. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3698, Longitude: -78.6500       In this case, the coordinates for Shelvey have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.699 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.74 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.46 degrees.