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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Whitemarsh, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whitemarsh 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 Whitemarsh:
    • 40.122054, -75.216566
    • 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 Whitemarsh
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Whitemarsh is near Philadelphia County and also Indiana County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Philadelphia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Indiana 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 Whitemarsh

Curious and Interesting Names Near Whitemarsh ...

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.

  • Blue Bell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Broad Axe
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Cherry Dale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherry Dale is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Dale
  • Chestnut Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Cold Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Cold Point is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Point
  • Dublin Chase
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dublin Chase is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin Chase
  • Dublin Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dublin Crossing is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin Crossing
  • Far-A-Field
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Far-A-Field is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Far-A-Field
  • Five Points
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Five Points is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Flourtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Gravers
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Gravers is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravers
  • Hickorytown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hickorytown is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickorytown
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Highland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Highland is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
    • Hill Crest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hill Crest is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Crest
    • Ivy Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ivy Hill is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hill
    • Joshua Knoll
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Joshua Knoll is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua Knoll
    • Kennedy House
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Kennedy House is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy House
    • Marble Hall
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Marble Hall is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Hall
    • Mermaid
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mermaid is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mermaid
    • Mount Pleasant
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Pheasant Knoll
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Pheasant Knoll is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Knoll
    • Plymouth Meeting
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rose Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Rose Valley is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Valley
    • Sunnybrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Sunnybrook is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook
    • Valley Green
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Valley Green is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Green
    • Village Circle
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Village Circle is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Circle

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Whitemarsh and extending to:

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the West.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Whitemarsh to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 128 miles [206 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,769 miles [9,284.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,475 miles [10,420.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,352 miles [7,003.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Whitemarsh) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Whitemarsh 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 Whitemarsh. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1221, Longitude: -75.2166       In this case, the coordinates for Whitemarsh have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.719 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.302 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.445 degrees.