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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tomstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tomstown 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 Tomstown:
    • 39.792871, -77.561657
    • 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 Tomstown
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Tomstown is near Washington County and also Adams County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams 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 Tomstown

Communities Also Named Tomstown ...

We found one communities that are also named Tomstown.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Tomstown is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Tomstown in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ontario
      • This Tomstown lies 563 miles [906.1 km]<1> to the north of the Tomstown that is located in Franklin County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tomstown ...

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.

  • Beartown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Beartown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
  • Cascade
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cascade is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Clay Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Clay Hill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Hill
  • Five Forks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Five Forks is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Fox Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Fox Hill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Gladhill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gladhill is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladhill
  • Highfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Highfield is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield
  • Highfield - Cascade
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Highfield - Cascade is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield - Cascade
  • Jugtown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jugtown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jugtown
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pond Bank
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Pond Bank is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Bank
    • Roadside
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Roadside is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roadside
    • Rocky Forge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rocky Forge is located in Washington County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Forge
    • Shady Grove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Shady Grove is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Slabtown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Slabtown is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
    • Tartown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Tartown is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tartown

How Far From Tomstown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Tomstown to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Chambersburg, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Tomstown to Chambersburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 49 miles [78.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 67 miles [107.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,881 miles [9,464.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,592 miles [10,608.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,467 miles [7,188.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Tomstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Tomstown 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 Tomstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7929, Longitude: -77.5617       In this case, the coordinates for Tomstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.144 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.866 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.592 degrees.