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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smethport, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smethport 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 Smethport:
    • 41.808675, -78.443352
    • 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 Smethport
  • 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 McKean County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McKean County
    • Since Smethport is near Cattaraugus County and also Potter County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cattaraugus County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Potter 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 Smethport

Communities Also Named Smethport ...

We found one communities that are also named Smethport.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Smethport is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Smethport in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • North Carolina
      • Ashe County
      • This Smethport is located in Ashe County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Smethport that is located in McKean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashe County community of Smethport.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smethport ...

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.

  • Allen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Allen is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
  • Big Shanty
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Big Shanty is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Shanty
  • Cyclone
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cyclone is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
  • Duke Center
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Duke Center is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Center
  • Farmers Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Farmers Valley is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Valley
  • Howard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Howard is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
  • Indian Crossing
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Indian Crossing is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Crossing
  • Irishtown
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Irishtown is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irishtown
  • Lewis Run
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Marvindale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Marvindale is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvindale
  • Turtlepoint
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Turtlepoint is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turtlepoint
  • Twomile
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Twomile is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twomile
  • Walkertown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Walkertown is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkertown
  • Wolf Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wolf Run is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Run

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

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

  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 133 miles [214 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Smethport to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>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 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 214 miles [344.4 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,831 miles [9,384.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,551 miles [10,542.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Smethport) 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 Smethport 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 Smethport. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8087, Longitude: -78.4434       In this case, the coordinates for Smethport have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.539 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.627 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.19 degrees.