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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Westmont, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Westmont 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 Westmont:
    • 40.348016, -76.470180
    • 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 Westmont
  • 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 Lebanon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lebanon County
    • Since Westmont is near Dauphin County and also Berks County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dauphin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berks 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 Westmont

Communities Also Named Westmont ...

We found ten communities that are also named Westmont.

There are two communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Westmont.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Blair County
      • This Westmont is located in Blair County and lies 102 miles [164.2 km]<1> to the west of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blair County community of Westmont.
    • Cambria County
      • This Westmont is located in Cambria County and lies 130 miles [209.2 km]<1> to the west of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cambria County community of Westmont.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Los Angeles County
      • This Westmont is located in Los Angeles County and lies 2,322 miles [3,736.9 km]<1> to the west of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Westmont.
    • Delaware
      • New Castle County
      • This Westmont is located in New Castle County and lies 59 miles [95 km]<1> to the southeast of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of Westmont.
    • Georgia
      • Columbia County
      • This Westmont is located in Columbia County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Westmont.
    • Illinois
      • DuPage County
      • This Westmont is located in DuPage County and lies 606 miles [975.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the DuPage County community of Westmont.
    • New Jersey
      • Camden County
      • This Westmont is located in Camden County and lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Westmont.
    • North Carolina
      • Randolph 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 North Carolina community of Westmont [Randolph County].
    • Virginia
      • Arlington County
      • This Westmont is located in Arlington County and lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Westmont that is located in Lebanon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arlington County community of Westmont.
      • Fairfax 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 Virginia community of Westmont [Fairfax County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westmont ...

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.

  • Clear Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Clear Spring is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Spring
  • Cornwall Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Ebenezer
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Ebenezer is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
  • Edisonville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Edisonville is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edisonville
  • Freeport Mills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Freeport Mills is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport Mills
  • Hebron
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hebron is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Jonestown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mount Ararat
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Mount Ararat is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Ararat
  • Pansy Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Pansy Hill is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pansy Hill
  • Pleasant Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Rockwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rockwood is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
  • Sand Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Sand Hill is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill
  • Sunset
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunset is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
  • Union Water Works
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Water Works is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Water Works

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

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

  • Lebanon, which is the Seat of Lebanon County, lies just to the East.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Westmont to Harrisburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 104 miles [167.4 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,812 miles [9,353.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,522 miles [10,496.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,398 miles [7,077.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Westmont) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Westmont 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Westmont 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 Westmont. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3480, Longitude: -76.4702    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.448 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.163 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.894 degrees.