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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Specktown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Specktown 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 Specktown:
    • 40.554266, -75.349624
    • 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 Specktown
  • 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 Northampton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Northampton County
    • Since Specktown is near Lehigh County and also Bucks County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lehigh County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bucks 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 Specktown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Specktown ...

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.

  • California
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • California is located in Bucks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California
  • Fountain Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Fountain Hill is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Hill
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,713 people
  • Freemansburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Hilltop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hilltop is located in Bucks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Iron Hill ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Iron Hill is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Hill
  • Locust Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Locust Valley is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Valley
  • Marlin Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Marlin Hills is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlin Hills
  • Mountainville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Mountainville is located in Lehigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainville
  • Passer
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Passer is located in Bucks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Passer
  • Rocky Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rocky Valley is located in Bucks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Valley
  • Spring Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Spring Valley is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
  • Springtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Star Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Star Village is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Village
    • Steel City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Steel City is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steel City
    • Summit Lawn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Summit Lawn is located in Lehigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Lawn
    • University Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • University Heights is located in Lehigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
    • Zionhill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Zionhill is located in Bucks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zionhill

How Far From Specktown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Specktown to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Specktown and extending to:

  • Easton, which is the Seat of Northampton County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Specktown to Easton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 82 miles [132 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 145 miles [233.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,757 miles [9,265 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,465 miles [10,404.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,341 miles [6,986.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Specktown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Specktown 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 Specktown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5543, Longitude: -75.3496       In this case, the coordinates for Specktown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.759 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.416 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.318 degrees.