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 West Springfield:
41.945889, -80.474237
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.
We found five communities that share the name West Springfield.
Within Pennsylvania, the name West Springfield is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Massachusetts
Hampden County
This West Springfield is located in Hampden County and lies 402 miles [647 km]<1> to the east of the West Springfield that is located in Erie County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampden County community of West Springfield.
New Hampshire
Sullivan County
This West Springfield is located in Sullivan County and lies 439 miles [706.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the West Springfield that is located in Erie County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of West Springfield.
Ohio
Clark County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of West Springfield [Clark County].
Vermont
Windsor County
This West Springfield is located in Windsor County and lies 414 miles [666.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the West Springfield that is located in Erie County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Windsor County community of West Springfield.
Virginia
Fairfax County
This West Springfield is located in Fairfax County and lies 277 miles [445.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the West Springfield that is located in Erie County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of West Springfield.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Springfield ...
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.
Amboy (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amboy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keepville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
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 West Springfield to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Springfield and extending to:
Erie, which is the Seat of Erie County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Springfield to Erie, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 219 miles [352.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 277 miles [445.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,906 miles [9,504.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,631 miles [10,671.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,507 miles [7,253.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- West Springfield) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Springfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9459, Longitude: -80.4742 In this case, the coordinates for West Springfield have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>
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 West Springfield 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.
<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>
An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<6>
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.
<7>
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 West Springfield to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.802 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.077 degrees.
<10>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.087 degrees.