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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tompkins, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tompkins 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 Tompkins:
    • 41.976740, -77.190808
    • 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 Tompkins
  • 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 Tioga County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tioga County
    • Since Tompkins is near Steuben County and also Chemung County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Steuben County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chemung 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 Tompkins

Communities Also Named Tompkins ...

We found six communities that are also named Tompkins.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Tompkins is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of six communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Camden County
      • This Tompkins is located in Camden County and lies 805 miles [1,295.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Tompkins that is located in Tioga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Tompkins.
    • Michigan
      • Jackson County
      • This Tompkins is located in Jackson County and lies 377 miles [606.7 km]<1> to the west of the Tompkins that is located in Tioga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Tompkins.
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Tompkins lies 964 miles [1,551.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tompkins that is located in Tioga County.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Tompkins lies 1,600 miles [2,575 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Tompkins that is located in Tioga County.
    • South Carolina
      • Horry County
      • This Tompkins is located in Horry County and lies 566 miles [910.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Tompkins that is located in Tioga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Horry County community of Tompkins.
    • Washington
      • Walla Walla County
      • This Tompkins is located in Walla Walla County and lies 2,037 miles [3,278.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Tompkins that is located in Tioga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walla Walla County community of Tompkins.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tompkins ...

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.

  • Crooked Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Crooked Creek is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooked Creek
  • Elkland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Erwins
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Erwins is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwins
  • Freeman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Freeman is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
  • Lambs Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lambs Creek is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs Creek
  • Nelson
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Nelson is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
  • Painter Run
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Painter Run is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painter Run
  • Rising
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Rising is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising
  • Shinglebury
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Shinglebury is located in Tioga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinglebury
  • Woods Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Woods Corner is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Corner

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

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

  • Wellsboro, which is the Seat of Tioga County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Tompkins to Wellsboro, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 118 miles [189.9 km] to the south (S). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 212 miles [341.2 km] to the south (S). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,773 miles [9,290.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,491 miles [10,446.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,367 miles [7,028 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- Tompkins) 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 Tompkins 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 Tompkins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9767, Longitude: -77.1908       In this case, the coordinates for Tompkins have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.749 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.76 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.542 degrees.