RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> York County >> Smiths Station >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smiths Station, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smiths Station 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 Smiths Station:
    • 39.815100, -76.925256
    • 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 Smiths Station
  • 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 York County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Since Smiths Station is near Adams County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll 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 Smiths Station

Communities Also Named Smiths Station ...

We found two communities that are also named Smiths Station.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Smiths Station is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Lee County
      • This Smiths Station is located in Lee County and lies 677 miles [1,089.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Smiths Station that is located in York County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Smiths Station.
    • Mississippi
      • Hinds County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Smiths Station [Hinds County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smiths Station ...

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.

  • Blooming Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Blooming Grove is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blooming Grove
  • Cold Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cold Spring is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Gnatstown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Gnatstown is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gnatstown
  • Green Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Springs is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Springs
  • Hobart
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Hobart is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobart
  • Iron Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Iron Ridge is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Ridge
  • Jacobs Mills
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jacobs Mills is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs Mills
  • Kraft Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Kraft Mill is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kraft Mill
  • Maple Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Maple Grove is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
  • Mount Pleasant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Pigeon Hills ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Pigeon Hills is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Hills
  • Valley Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Valley Junction is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Junction

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

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

  • York, which is the Seat of York County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Smiths Station to York, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 32 miles [51.5 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 63 miles [101.4 km] to the south (S). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,854 miles [9,421.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,563 miles [10,562.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,439 miles [7,143.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smiths Station) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Smiths Station 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.
<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 Smiths Station 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 Smiths Station. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8151, Longitude: -76.9253       In this case, the coordinates for Smiths Station have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.761 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.435 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.307 degrees.