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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smithdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithdale 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 Smithdale:
    • 40.227849, -79.791434
    • 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 Smithdale
  • 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 Allegheny County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
    • Since Smithdale is near Westmoreland County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Smithdale

Communities Also Named Smithdale ...

We found seven communities that are also named Smithdale.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Smithdale is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cullman County
      • This Smithdale is located in Cullman County and lies 569 miles [915.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Smithdale that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cullman County community of Smithdale.
    • Arkansas
      • Cross County
      • This Smithdale is located in Cross County and lies 678 miles [1,091.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Smithdale that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cross County community of Smithdale.
    • Illinois
      • Livingston County
      • This Smithdale is located in Livingston County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<1> to the west of the Smithdale that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Smithdale.
    • Mississippi
      • Amite County
      • This Smithdale is located in Amite County and lies 864 miles [1,390.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Smithdale that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amite County community of Smithdale.
    • Ohio
      • Harrison County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Smithdale [Harrison County].
    • Ontario
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Smithdale.
    • Texas
      • Childress County
      • This Smithdale is located in Childress County and lies 1,181 miles [1,900.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Smithdale that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Childress County community of Smithdale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithdale ...

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.

  • Alpsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Alpsville is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpsville
  • Dick
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dick is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
  • Elizabeth
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Evanstown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Evanstown is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evanstown
  • Grandview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grandview is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Herminie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Industry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Industry is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industry
  • Keystone
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Keystone is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Lake Denise
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Lake Denise is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Denise
  • Lincoln
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
  • Lovedale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lovedale is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovedale
  • Mustard
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Mustard is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mustard
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Reduction
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Reduction is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reduction
    • Robbins
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Robbins is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins
    • Sunny Side
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
    • Turkeytown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Turkeytown is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
    • Victory Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Victory Hills is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory Hills
    • Vista
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Vista is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista

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

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

  • Pittsburgh, which is the Seat of Allegheny County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Smithdale to Pittsburgh, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 153 miles [246.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 173 miles [278.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 5,954 miles [9,582 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,671 miles [10,735.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,547 miles [7,317.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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- Smithdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Smithdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Smithdale 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.
<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 Smithdale 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 Smithdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2278, Longitude: -79.7914       In this case, the coordinates for Smithdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.472 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.44 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.41 degrees.