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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Southwest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southwest 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 Southwest:
- 40.198960, -79.520872
- 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 Southwest
- 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 Westmoreland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
- Since Southwest is near Fayette County and also Allegheny County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny 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 Southwest
Communities Also Named Southwest ...
We found four communities that are also named Southwest.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Southwest is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Palm Beach County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Southwest [Palm Beach County].
- Indiana
- Elkhart County
- This Southwest is located in Elkhart County and lies 347 miles [558.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Southwest that is located in Westmoreland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elkhart County community of Southwest.
- Missouri
- Saint Louis City
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Southwest [Saint Louis City].
- North Carolina
- Onslow County
- This Southwest is located in Onslow County and lies 392 miles [630.9 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Southwest that is located in Westmoreland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onslow County community of Southwest.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Southwest ...
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.
- Carpentertown
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Carpentertown is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpentertown
- Central
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Central is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Foxtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Foxtown is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxtown
- Kecksburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Kecksburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kecksburg
- Mammoth
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Mammoth is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth
- Morewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Morewood is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morewood
- Mount Joy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mount Joy is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
- Mount Pleasant
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mutual
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mutual is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mutual
- Orchard Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Orchard Hill is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hill
- Paintersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Paintersville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paintersville
- Pleasant Unity
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Ridge View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Ridge View is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge View
- Rocktown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rocktown is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocktown
- Standard
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Standard is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard
- Standard Shaft
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Standard Shaft is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard Shaft
- United
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- United is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for United
- Weavers Old Stand
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Weavers Old Stand is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weavers Old Stand
How Far From Southwest 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 Southwest to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Southwest and extending to:
- Greensburg, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies just to the North.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Southwest to Harrisburg, with an average speed<4>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 159 miles [255.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,945 miles [9,567.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,661 miles [10,719.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,536 miles [7,300 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Southwest 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Southwest) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Southwest 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 Southwest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1990, Longitude: -79.5209 In this case, the coordinates for Southwest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.307 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.249 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.30 degrees. |
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