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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shepherdstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shepherdstown 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 Shepherdstown:
    • 40.177591, -76.991365
    • 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 Shepherdstown
  • 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 Cumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
    • Since Shepherdstown is near York County and also Dauphin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dauphin 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 Shepherdstown

Communities Also Named Shepherdstown ...

We found two communities that are also named Shepherdstown.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Shepherdstown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Belmont County
      • This Shepherdstown is located in Belmont County and lies 208 miles [334.7 km]<1> to the west of the Shepherdstown that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of Shepherdstown.
    • West Virginia
      • Jefferson County
      • This Shepherdstown is located in Jefferson County and lies 67 miles [107.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Shepherdstown that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Shepherdstown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shepherdstown ...

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.

  • Holliday
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Holliday is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holliday
  • Mechanicsburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Mount Pleasant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Raven Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Raven Hill is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Hill
  • Reservoir Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Reservoir Hill is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reservoir Hill
  • Rose Garden
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Rose Garden is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Garden
  • Rosegarden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosegarden is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosegarden
  • Sunnyland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunnyland is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyland
  • Williams Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Williams Grove is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Grove
  • Winding Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Winding Heights is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winding Heights
  • Winding Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Winding Hill is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winding Hill

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

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

  • Carlisle, which is the Seat of Cumberland County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Shepherdstown to Carlisle, 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 9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 88 miles [141.6 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,841 miles [9,400.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,552 miles [10,544.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,427 miles [7,124.6 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- Shepherdstown) 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 Shepherdstown 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 Shepherdstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1776, Longitude: -76.9914       In this case, the coordinates for Shepherdstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.774 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.506 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.191 degrees.