RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Berks County >> Thomas Gardens >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Thomas Gardens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thomas Gardens 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 Thomas Gardens:
    • 40.303221, -75.981988
    • 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 Thomas Gardens
  • 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 Berks County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berks County
    • Since Thomas Gardens is near Lancaster County and also Bedford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford 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 Thomas Gardens

Communities Also Named Thomas Gardens ...

We found one communities that are also named Thomas Gardens.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Thomas Gardens is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Thomas Gardens is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,882 miles [3,028.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Thomas Gardens that is located in Berks County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Thomas Gardens.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thomas Gardens ...

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.

  • Birdland
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Birdland is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdland
  • Clover Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Clover Park is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Park
  • Cornwall Terrace
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Cornwall Terrace is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwall Terrace
  • Freemanville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Freemanville is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freemanville
  • Green Valley Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Valley Gardens is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley Gardens
  • Grill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Grill is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grill
  • Lincoln Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Reading
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Ridge Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Ridge Park is located in Berks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Park
  • Sinking Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Reading, which is the Seat of Berks County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Thomas Gardens to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 112 miles [180.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,794 miles [9,324.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,502 miles [10,464 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,378 miles [7,045.7 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thomas Gardens) 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 Thomas Gardens 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 Thomas Gardens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3032, Longitude: -75.9820       In this case, the coordinates for Thomas Gardens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.159 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.829 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.70 degrees.