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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Swissvale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swissvale 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 Swissvale:
    • 40.423010, -79.886418
    • 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 Swissvale
  • 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 Swissvale 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 Swissvale

Communities Also Named Swissvale ...

We found three communities that are also named Swissvale.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Swissvale is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Chaffee 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 Colorado community of Swissvale [Chaffee County].
      • Fremont County
      • This Swissvale is located in Fremont County and lies 1,388 miles [2,233.8 km]<2> to the west of the Swissvale that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fremont County community of Swissvale.
    • Kansas
      • Osage County
      • This Swissvale is located in Osage County and lies 840 miles [1,351.8 km]<2> to the west of the Swissvale that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Osage County community of Swissvale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Swissvale ...

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.

  • Frick Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Frick Park is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frick Park
  • Friendship
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Friendship is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Glen Hazel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Hazel is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Hazel
  • Greenfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Greenfield is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Hays
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hays is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays
  • Highland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Highland is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Homestead
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Homeville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Homeville is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeville
  • Homewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Homewood is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Lincoln Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Nadine
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • New Homestead
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • New Homestead is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Homestead
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Regent Square
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Regent Square is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regent Square
    • Shadyside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Shadyside is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadyside
    • Squirrel Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Squirrel Hill is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squirrel Hill
    • Terrace
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Terrace is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrace
    • Turtle Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Pittsburgh, which is the Seat of Allegheny County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 158 miles [254.3 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Swissvale 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 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 184 miles [296.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,950 miles [9,575.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,668 miles [10,731.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,543 miles [7,311.2 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 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 Swissvale 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- Swissvale) 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 Swissvale 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 Swissvale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4230, Longitude: -79.8864    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.52 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.525 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.381 degrees.