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.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Switzer
- 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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Berks County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Switzer ...
We found six communities that share the name Switzer.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Switzer is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- 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)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Claussville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claussville
- Claussville is located in Lehigh County
- Germansville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Germansville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germansville
- Germansville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Germansville <4>
- Jordan Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jordan Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan Valley
- Jordan Valley is located in Lehigh County
- Leather Corner Post
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leather Corner Post have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leather Corner Post
- Leather Corner Post is located in Lehigh County
- Lynnport
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Lynnville
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Lyon Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyon Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Valley
- Lyon Valley is located in Lehigh County
- New Tripoli
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Tripoli have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Tripoli
- New Tripoli is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Tripoli <4>
- Pleasant Corners
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Corners
- Pleasant Corners is located in Lehigh County
- Schnecksville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schnecksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schnecksville
- Schnecksville is located in Lehigh County
- Stony Run
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
How Far From Switzer 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 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<5> 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<6> 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).<7>
- 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).<8>
- 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).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Switzer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lehigh County: www.lehighcounty.org/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
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 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Switzer) to Point B.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). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.969 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.668 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.438 degrees. |