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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 Switzer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Switzer 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 Switzer:
- 40.647873, -75.714357
- 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 Switzer
- 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 Lehigh County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lehigh County
- Since Switzer is near Berks County and also Schuylkill County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Berks County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Schuylkill 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 Switzer
Communities Also Named Switzer ...
We found six communities that are also named Switzer.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Switzer is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Osage 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 Kansas community of Switzer [Osage County].
- Kentucky
- Franklin County
- This Switzer is located in Franklin County and lies 509 miles [819.2 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Switzer that is located in Lehigh County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Switzer.
- Ohio
- Monroe County
- This Switzer is located in Monroe County and lies 278 miles [447.4 km]<2> to the west of the Switzer that is located in Lehigh County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Switzer.
- South Carolina
- Spartanburg County
- This Switzer is located in Spartanburg County and lies 530 miles [853 km]<2> to the southwest of the Switzer that is located in Lehigh County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Switzer.
- West Virginia
- Barbour 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 West Virginia community of Switzer [Barbour County].
- Logan County
- This Switzer is located in Logan County and lies 389 miles [626 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Switzer that is located in Lehigh County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Switzer.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Switzer ...
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.
- Claussville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Claussville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claussville
- Germansville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Jordan Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jordan Valley is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan Valley
- Leather Corner Post
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Leather Corner Post is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leather Corner Post
- Lynnport
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Lynnport is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnport
- Lynnville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Lynnville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnville
- Lyon Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lyon Valley is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Valley
- New Tripoli
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Corners
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Corners is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Corners
- Schnecksville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Schnecksville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schnecksville
- Stony Run
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Stony Run is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Run
How Far From Switzer to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Switzer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Switzer and extending to:
- Allentown, which is the Seat of Lehigh County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Switzer to Allentown, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 66 miles [106.2 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 about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 139 miles [223.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,768 miles [9,282.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,478 miles [10,425.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,354 miles [7,007.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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 Switzer 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Switzer) 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 Switzer 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 Switzer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6479, Longitude: -75.7144 In this case, the coordinates for Switzer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.969 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.668 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.438 degrees. |
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