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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Swatara, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swatara 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 Swatara:
    • 40.655089, -76.354675
    • 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 Swatara
  • 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 Schuylkill County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
    • Since Swatara is near Luzerne County and also Northumberland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Northumberland 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 Swatara

Communities Also Named Swatara ...

We found two communities that are also named Swatara.

There is one other community in Pennsylvania that is also named Swatara.

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

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Dauphin County
      • This Swatara is located in Dauphin County and lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Swatara that is located in Schuylkill County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dauphin County community of Swatara.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Aitkin County
      • This Swatara is located in Aitkin County and lies 962 miles [1,548.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Swatara that is located in Schuylkill County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aitkin County community of Swatara.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Swatara ...

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.

  • Buck Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Buck Run is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Run
  • De Turksville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • De Turksville is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Turksville
  • Echo Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Echo Valley is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Valley
  • Forestville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Forestville is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
  • Fountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Fountain is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain
  • Glen Carbon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Carbon is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Carbon
  • Gordon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Jonestown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jonestown is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
  • Mabel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mabel is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
  • Marlin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Marlin is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlin
  • Middle Creek ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Middle Creek is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
  • Minersville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Mount Pleasant
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Paradise
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Paradise is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
    • Ravine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ravine is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravine
    • Seltzer
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Seltzer is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seltzer

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

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

  • Pottsville, which is the Seat of Schuylkill County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Swatara to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 126 miles [202.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,795 miles [9,326.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,506 miles [10,470.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,381 miles [7,050.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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- Swatara) 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 Swatara 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 Swatara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6551, Longitude: -76.3547       In this case, the coordinates for Swatara have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.353 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.104 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.717 degrees.